by Joanie Butman
In response to last week’s post, a number of readers wrote to share their own Holy Spirit moments. Not one of them involved tongues of fire coming to rest on them as described by Luke in Acts 2. I can’t say I’ve experienced that unique phenomena either, but I will say that after having a Holy Spirit encounter, Alicia Keys’ song comes to mind, “This girl is on fire.🔥” As euphoric as it is, the ‘feeling’ is fleeting. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is not. In fact, I received a timely reminder of that truth in a devotional by C.S. Lewis yesterday.
“It is quite right that you should feel that ‘something terrific’ has happened to you (It has) and be ‘all glowy.’ Accept these sensations with thankfulness as birthday cards from God, but remember that they are only greetings, not the real gift. I mean, it is not the sensations that are the real thing. The real thing is the gift of the Holy Spirit which can’t usually be—perhaps not ever—experienced as a sensation or emotion. The sensations are merely the response of your nervous system. Don’t depend on them. Otherwise when they go and you are once more emotionally flat (as you certainly will be quite soon), you might think that the real thing had gone too. But it won’t. It will be there when you can’t feel it. May even be most operative when you can feel it least.”*
The reason I share this devotional is because there were also a number of people who conveyed their spiritual FOMO having never ‘felt’ the arrival of the Holy Spirit or God’s presence in their time of need. My friend was honest enough to express that she was envious of that kind of spiritual intimacy. Believe me, I’ve gone through much of life not necessarily ‘feeling’ God’s presence. However, I can say with certainty that my ‘feelings’ have nothing to do with His providence and sovereignty. I wouldn’t have survived my teens and early 20s without God’s protection despite my rebellious spirit and snarky attitude.
I often find myself walking out of a Bible study, retreat or sermon with others who are bubbling over with excitement, chatting about the room being filled with God’s Spirit. Someone will inevitably ask the dreaded, “Didn’t you just feel the Holy Spirit moving?” And I would have to confess that, “No, I did not. The only thing I felt was my stomach growling. Let’s go eat.” Blessedly, the Divine does not rely on my feelings because they are notoriously unreliable, and as much as I'd like to deny it, still rebellious and snarky at times.
That’s the beauty of Christ. He is unchangeable. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). So, if He promises something, you can be confident of its veracity. His promise to “be with you always, to the very end of the age” is what we need to choose to hold tightly – especially when we are feeling alone and abandoned in our pain. Wherever you are, He is there.
