The Final Conversations with Christ- Part 4

At church camp several years ago, I distinctly remember pushing my way up to the front of the sanctuary on the infamous “Holy Spirit Wednesday,” hoping that it would be my year. The speaker, per usual, gave an incredible, compelling message that inspired everyone to actively pursue the Spirit. As hundreds of us gathered at the altar, I quickly began to hear the voices around me speak in tongues, crying out, and joyfully praising God. As I stood there, surrounded by friends that seemed to be having an incredible encounter with God, I was wondering why I wasn’t experiencing the same thing. The Holy Spirit was for everyone, right?

As I look back on this moment, I see many issues with the way I was “pursuing” the Spirit. First of all, I was comparing myself to everyone around me, and asking God to give me what He was giving everyone else instead of being open to whatever He wanted to speak into my life. Secondly, I was pursuing the act of speaking in tongues instead of the Holy Spirit, himself. Moreover, I wasn’t willing to wait patiently on God.

Several months later, I began to sense that God was speaking to me on this issue. Through personal Bible reading and a very specific sermon about waiting on the Lord, I started to feel convicted of the way I was pursuing my relationship with God (and the Holy Spirit). I had become so consumed with what I wanted God to give me that I was missing out on what He was actually speaking to me.

Shortly after coming to this realization, there was an opportunity for an open altar time in youth group. On this particular Wednesday, I had plans to hang out with friends at Wendy’s—so I was not really “feeling” the whole “seeking the Holy Spirit” thing. However, as my friends began to exit the sanctuary, I felt God nudging me to spend a little bit more time in His presence. Honestly…in that moment I was very tempted to go get my chicken nuggets and fries instead of hanging back in prayer. However, I chose to listen to God and spend more time seeking Him. It was that evening that I was baptized with the Holy Spirit.

As ridiculous as my story may be, I learned a very important principle through this experience. As Pastor Aaron challenged us on Sunday, we must be willing to linger longer in the presence of God. His presence is always with us, but how often do we just move on to something else that grabs our attention?

Secondly, Pastor Aaron challenged us to listen up. It’s so easy to fall into the habit of making a prayer “checklist,” but what would happen if we were willing to simply listen for what God is speaking to us?

Finally, in order to become closer to the Spirit, we must live out our faith. As John 14:15-17 states,

If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

What Jesus is speaking to the disciples about in this passage is that they must learn to be obedient to God’s voice. They must seek the guidance of his Spirit, and follow His instruction in order to remain close to God after Jesus departs from earth. In the same way, we must actively pursue God. We must listen for His voice. We must be willing to linger in His presence. We must be willing to live out the instructions He gives us.

I encourage you, if you can relate to my story, to stop limiting God to what you want Him to do. Start seeking all that he is, and all that He has for you. When we are open, willing, and actively pursuing, God WILL speak.

Written by: Tamara Sturdivant

Edited by: Jaime Hlavin