The Holy Spirit and Real Life

“Oh no!” I exclaimed while reading the private message in regards to a friend’s passing. “I’m in shock!” I responded. I am still in shock. Strangely enough, a poignant warmth filled my being as I remembered back to when he and I last conversed. I had felt compelled to visit with this friend, the male half of a wonderful two-some, during a trip this past September. Now he has passed on into the next life, and his wife, my friend and old roomie from college days, is left to pick up the pieces. I feel for her.

I remember when they were dating.

He had this great big smile that accompanied his chuckle and he was like a giant teddy bear. He liked to tease my roommate (and me). She fell for him like a ton of bricks. Over the years she and I kept our friendship alive, attending the Shakespearean Festival in Ashland, Oregon and a visit here and there when I made my way to their hometown for an event at my Alma mater. She’s a hoot. We laugh a lot when we are together and we share a love of writing. She and I share the struggles of life and what we’re learning because of them. It’s an honest friendship. We don’t hide who we are from each other. The focus of the friendship was on her and less about him. He often was away at work so it was girl-time. But our last visit was different. . . .

We were visiting in their home when he invited me to stay an extra day.

He was in physical pain, that much I could tell, and I sensed he wanted to talk with me. His questions were intense, deep, and I sought to answer them in the spirit of the dialogue (I love a below-the-surface discussion). Our conversation had a lot to do with Christianity, the upcoming presidential election, our Christian walk in the world today, and the challenges found in familial responsibilities. His wife listened to our back-and-forth comments rather than entering in. To stay longer meant I would have to cancel my plans with my cousin who lived down the I-5 corridor three hours south. Yet I felt the pull to visit with the two of them for an extended stay. It was weird, but I specifically sensed that our talk was meeting an unseen need. So I remained. It was fortuitous.

He and I had a lively talk that went on for hours.

Our conversation centered on difficulties concerning caregiver roles, power-of attorney legalities, and end-of-life matters. He’d recently lost a brother and then his mother within a few months of each other and knew what he was talking about. I was interested because of events in my own life. I was glad for the extra visiting time, but I had no idea it would be our last. Somehow I knew it was important. One of their little dogs jumped onto my lap, warming up to me, and he said that was a rare thing for her.  He mentioned visiting my family when my children were young, when he had a truck delivery at the Chico airport. He said he liked my husband, who was cooking dinner because I had had a rough day, and how he was sorry when he learned that our marriage had fallen apart. That was good for me to hear, and it reminded me that there were good parts to my ex and in our marriage. I am glad that he said those words to me. The September 11th, 15th anniversary was being remembered on TV as we talked about that day of all days. I talked about visiting the grave of my sister earlier in the day, and its accompanying sadness.

It is evident now that the Holy Spirit was leading that day.

I left early the next morning to visit a church a friend pastors. On the way I passed caravans of pickup trucks with signs, “We Remember” and American flags streaming from their cabs and truck beds in honor of the fallen from 9-11. They were impressive and comforting. I thought back over the prior night’s conversation and was pleased and thankful. I was also concerned because of my friend’s health needs and felt his wife’s fears regarding him. Last week, after my communication with his wife as I acknowledged his passing, she stated to me that her husband had enjoyed my visit. That meant a lot.

The compelling of the Holy Spirit comes in a persistent thought.

The thought worries at you. You should call ….  The Spirit is bringing that person to mind because they are in need of encouragement or a listening ear. Do something nice for her, means you need to act, and you should act now, which happened to me last summer. My friend’s marriage was ending in an exceedingly painful way. I followed through on the prompt by buying her a bouquet of pink roses to help her know she is loved and cared for and is not alone in her suffering. I shared how my siblings had sent me a bouquet to stand in solidarity with me the day when my divorce finalized. Tears came to her eyes as she thanked me.

Humans can’t see the big picture but God does.

It happens like this. You have a chunk of change in your purse reserved for a specific personal need when a thought comes that says to give it to someone that you know has a need. Do you do it? Do you give it to them and disregard your own need? You should. That happened to me this Christmas. This was a lean year and every dollar counted but then the thought came, they need it more than you do, give that bill in your wallet to them. I’ve learned not to fight the prompting. I put the money in a card and gave it away and never regretted it. I was being obedient. We cannot regret doing what God wants us to do. And we give our alms in secret by not trumpeting our goodness before others. Our acts of service are done for love of God, not for praise of man or woman. Interestingly enough, God has met my need in other ways as I trust Him for it.

Be sensitive to God’s leading.

The Holy Spirit prompts us through our thoughts. Lots of times the prompt centers around praying for a person and their specific issue or problem. It may be a thought that tells you to help them out as in a call to action. Or it may be a quiet thought that says to let a troubling issue ‘go’ that is causing you angst as the Spirit prompts you to live ‘above’ the circumstance by choosing to  abide in God’s grace. He calls you to extend grace to the situation, to ‘them,’ when in the flesh you would rather withhold and withdraw in self-protective, anger-induced  mode. The prompting may be the asking of forgiveness for an offense. You may find yourself praying for the person on the sidewalk who is homeless or for the President-Elect. You pray for them because you are called to pray for them. It may be you are prompted to take the time for a neighbor, friend, child, or family member. The secret is to act on the prompting.

There is a side benefit to all of this.

The strength and power received in answer to our prayers is directly affected by the willingness of our hearts and minds to be obedient to the Spirit’s leading. It is sweet spot for the person whose life is joined in close immediacy to the God-head. We cannot harbor ill-will toward someone and still have power in our prayers. In the same way, the Holy Spirit has free reign in our souls when we keep a pure mind and pure heart through daily confession and cleansing, as we seek to be open and close with God. An impure vessel is not receptive to God’s leading and promptings. The necessity for daily intimacy with God and His Spirit is worth the effort it takes to come clean before Father God.

It is possible to live a life with no regrets, spiritually speaking.

Following the Holy Spirit will cause you to experience a life with no regrets, in that, with God in the lead you will know you are doing what you should be doing and the activities in your life will have lasting value. The fleshly regrets will be there in regard to what is not of God but the spiritual side, when unrestricted, will have no regrets because it is not acting from out of the flesh but is acting in and through the Spirit’s knowledge and understanding.

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I hope this makes sense. Feel free to leave a question for me. Bless you.