Experience...we all long for it with God...those visions and dreams and wild deliverances and amazing fireworks situations full of electrical moments that leave us dazzled and breathless. Somehow, I think we believe that if we have those experiences on a continual basis, it would be proof to us of the Holy Spirit's existence and presence in our lives.
Consider this for a moment...what if the Holy Spirit is a 'still, small voice' whose extraordinary power is shown in people living righteously thru the ordinary experiences of life where selfish unrighteous would normally exist?
That long hug from a wife to a husband who was annoyed at her and then asked for forgiveness...instead of her sulking in hurt silence...
A woman washing dishes in loving service at a family gathering where she has, in time's past, been gossiped about and slandered or else the conversation centers around nonedifying subjects that she prefer to not be involved in...serving them with a smile, instead of being angry at and rude to these people who profess with their lips to know God, but their lives defy that profession...A man quietly serving his employer for years without recognition or gratitude from his boss...being disregarded and disrespected in many ways and yet faithfully fulfilling his jobs each day as tho the employer deserves the greatest of respect, thus prospering the business and honoring the Lord...instead of being rude and disrespectful and even gossiping about his employer to others.
Teenagers who choose to walk in the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus while many of their friends are busy with material pursuits and selfish ambitions...
A man who chooses to serve and bless others in the midst of deep heartache of loss when his wife left him, taking his children with her...
A widow, choosing to serve refugees with a smile in the midst of her own deep loss...
Families choosing peace with their religious communities, while walking in the simplicity in Christ, not asking to be understood, nor defending themselves while serving the Lord with gladness and reaching out to the honest seekers whom He brings to their door...
Parents, daily walking in grief from a child who suffers from symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome and displaying unexplainable acts that are wearisome and hard to understand...choosing daily to seek the face of God who has wisdom in every situation.
Jesus...who walked thru the crowds daily...often needed only because he could heal... gossiped about because religious people hated him...having no place to lay his head...argued with...piled upon with opinions of legalistic and selfish people who really didn't regard his personal space or time...
These are real life stories of people I personally know who are governed by a power beyond themselves to live a Life that Jesus came to give in abundance. Their lives display loudly and clearly 'the greatest of these' that Paul talks about in 1 Cor. 13~LOVE. This kind of fruit can only come consistently from the Holy Spirit, the 'wind that blows where it will'...
My heart cry in this post is that, at the end of the day, after all the exciting worship experiences we may have had, and beyond all the visions and dreams that He may have given to us that day, how have we loved? Have we noticed a fellow family member struggling to carry a big load (emotionally or physically, they are the same) and reached out to help in love? Have we acknowledged the cook's hard work to keep us fed nutritious and delicious meals...gratefully thanking them for their service? Have we taken the time to hear the hearts of our people in our homes and community that God sent us today? Have we kept our belongings put away, out of respect to the family and God? Have we offered to take on some of a family member's workload when we had a spare moment? Have we laid aside our own plans in favor of doing a group project that was suggested by a family member, even if it is a project we don't really relish doing (for me, that is playing most games :)? Have we refrained from complaining to a family member who was not as respectful or thotful towards us as they could have/should have been? Have we refrained from telling them every time they annoy us but instead, quietly laid down that annoyance at the feet of Jesus (laying down our lives for our friends), and pray for them instead?
This is a challenge to me as much as anyone. I believe that there is a reason that Jesus and the apostles spoke so much of love being the proof that we are His.
If the greatest of all is LOVE...then let us choose to love. Let us not chase after rainbow moments that prove to us that God loves us and thinks of us, at the expense of being unloving in how we live. Let us simply receive with gratitude the days He gives us and walk thru each day's experiences with a surrendered and grateful heart, firm on the Rock and strong in the belief that He loves us beyond our wildest comprehension, so how can we not love others in that same way? It takes a lifetime of laying down ourselves, but what a display of the Holy Spirit when we live surrendered lives that produce the fruit of love...
PS
What I was NOT saying (because blog posts are like sermons, books, and text messages! You cannot cover all the bases in every one of them!)...
1. that I have learned to love perfectly and make no mistakes. We are all a work in progress, but at the core of our being, we should be consistenty and faithfully displaying the fruit of the Spirit if we claim to know Christ
2. that visions, dreams and amazing feeling in worship experiences are not part of a Christian's life. I have known them and do know them...what emotion it does produce when we know the God of all the Ages provided a way of redemption! But is that our main goal in life at the expense of loving, which is the 'greatest of these'?
3. I am better than anyone else because I dared to share...Like Paul, I truly honestly believe that outside of Christ, I am a sinner, 'among whom I am chief'...
Love and blessings,
Marcia
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