Romans 8:26
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Until I turned sixteen, my life was fairly simple. I never experienced true hardships as many of my friends had—poverty, parents splitting up, parental abuse—my life was good. Little did I know, that year seemed to initiate a series of struggles in my life. The first came a few days after Christmas when my seventeen-year-old cousin was airlifted to the hospital. The two of us were quite close. We were only five months apart in age, we got baptized together, and no one wanted to play with us because we were the babies of the family.
He passed away that night, and I struggled severely during my grieving process. But as expected, my grief was nothing compared to his parents’. They needed the comfort of our family day in and day out, so we all contributed with pre-made meals, quality time, and prayers every day for months.
One afternoon, our whole family was sitting in their backyard while we waited for his ashes to be delivered. As we chatted away, the doorbell rang and immediately, the back porch light turned on. No one was near a light switch. There were no timers on the lights. The only reason I could imagine that light turned on was that the Holy Spirit was making its presence known. Our family was struck with immense grief, and the Spirit knew.
Often times, I feel the Holy Spirit presents itself when we begin to fall away from the Lord. When life gets challenging, we have to work extra hard in order to keep a relationship with God. At the time, I was so distraught and felt so betrayed that God took such a young and awe-inspiring person from my life. As I flowed in and out of the different stages of grief, there were a couple of other times when I felt the Holy Spirit wrap me in a comfort like no other. After the third time I felt it, I finally gave in. I began to rebuild my relationship with God and learn to trust his plan. It was like the Spirit had reigns on me, pulling me closer and closer back to Christ until I finally allowed myself to just let go.
I’m fortunate enough to have a few stories like this. Have you ever experienced a God Moment? A time when things seemed to miraculously fall into place, but you can’t explain how? Your God Moments are the Holy Spirit reminding you that God is in control and has abundant love for you.
Think about a time you experienced a God Moment. Why do you think God provided it for you? How did you react? Did it change your perspective? When you meet with your small group this week, share your God Moment with your leader and your peers. Because witnessing a God Moment, experiencing the Holy Spirit, is exciting and worth sharing!