Peace From the Spirit

John 14:25-27

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

The Holy Spirit has always confused me. I grew up in a more liturgical church, meaning things were a little more stoic. When I moved to California I went to some non-denominational churches that challenged my

understanding of who the Holy Spirit is… let me explain.

People started telling me about hearing the Holy Spirit’s voice audibly, speaking in tongues, feeling overwhelmed and overcome by emotion while sitting in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and how all that

transformed their faith. Now, as a boy who had spent a year reading divine service setting two every week out of a Lutheran liturgical hymnal, the free-flowing style of this new worship was both foreign and intriguing.

I have reservations when trying new (and completely foreign) things because I want to make sure that my worship is God-focused and not me-focused. All that to say, I spent the next few weeks praying, and I came to the conclusion that I know who God is and where I’m going, so why not hear out what these other churches have to say? The worst thing I could find out is that they aren’t scripturally cognizant; the best thing that could happen is I experience a new way to be loved by the Living God. Seems like a good thing to try.

The next months were met by heavy scripture reading, many late-night conversations, and attending different church services. I started to see the guidelines that I understand God to be showing me as to how He wants to be in community with us and I also started to see ways that I was closed off to Him. I then tried to bring more openness and emotion into my prayer life, in an effort to do whatever I could to have the Holy Spirit speak to me or move me.
Speak to ME or move ME.

Ironically, the very thing I wanted to avoid became my only mission: to make my walk with Jesus “Chase-o-centric” or about me. I had it all wrong, I was going after the gifts and not the giver. Days and months went by and I continued to pursue Christ, but gave up the idea of the physical outcome (a booming voice, a vision, etc). Then, one day, I had a night that I can only explain as a peace that came from the Holy Spirit.

I was in my car outside my home and I didn’t want to get out of my car, but I also didn’t want to stay in it, ever been there? I had the weight of the world on my shoulders and the stress of every new decision on my mind and I felt utterly alone. I went into my room, sat on my bed and saw my Bible. I opened up to the

place where I had been reading and read. The Word spoke to me and then I sat there and felt peace. Not just like a, “check! I read my Bible and finished all my tasks” peace, but a “wow, the Holy Spirit is here comforting me in my solitude” type peace.

Like a friend who was there for me when nobody else could. I was being comforted by my Father in Heaven. He sent His Spirit and I received peace. Jesus told His disciples in John 14 that the Holy Spirit will remind them of the things He has said and then, in the very next verse he says, “Peace I give you.”

Our relationship with God is not all about the big showy and fun things, but about the life-changing moments that happen when you are still and quiet.

Take time today to practice sitting in solitude. We have to practice making room for the spirit. We can’t receive peace and grow closer to God if we don’t create space and time.