When we look at the whole world today it seems as if the kingdom of darkness is winning but if we take a closer look, we will see that the kingdom of darkness is truly crashing down, and it is going down fast, that’s why the enemy is so relentless.
And when I think about the Godhead, I have realized that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have sacrificed for the sake of humanity. The Father has sacrificed by giving His only begotten Son, and His Son’s blood will forever be bright red before Him, it is not like when we get a cut, the blood goes from bright red to pink-red to dark red, but His Christ’s blood is forever effective and unforgotten before His Father. Jesus, who is presently interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25), also sacrificed by pouring out His soul unto death for our transgressions and kept the scars on His hands, side, and feet as receipts. And the Holy Spirit also sacrificed by agreeing to remain in us once we have accepted Christ. However broken, disobedient, inconsiderate, and even grievous we may be towards Him, the Holy Spirit still sticks around because He knows that if He ever departs from us that will be the end of us. And truth be told as bad as the world is today, we don’t even want to imagine what it could have been like without the Holy Spirit. We would have no love and no mercy towards each other. The Holy Spirit works in our hearts because we were born in sin and brought forth in iniquity. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is our Helper. He instructs, corrects, guides, etc. But I have also discovered that the Holy Spirit is also our true strategist.
And why do we need a strategist in the first place? There are countless reasons why we need the Holy Spirit as our strategist and His presence in our lives is non-negotiable. Before Jesus left this earth to ascend to heaven, He instructed His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they received the presence of Someone, the Holy Spirit. Their obedience to that instruction made the difference because it set everything in motion, and I am sure they had thousands of reasons and distractions trying to prevent them from waiting on the Promise. Had they not received the Holy Spirit, we would have never read nor heard of the manifestation of the power of God in their lives apart from what we’ve read and heard performed by Jesus while He was with them.
An analogy that comes to mind regarding the Holy Spirit is a scenario of a young adult son who was going on a long-distance trip, and before he left the house, his parents told him that the keys to the car were on the table, but he ought to make sure that he didn’t forget to put gas in the car before he hit the road. By this statement, his parents implied that though he possessed the keys to the car, he still needed gas to get to his destination because the car might have had little to no gas. It is the same concept for the Holy Spirit, He is like fuel and His Presence in our lives is a must.
We also need the Holy Spirit as our strategist because this world that we are living in is not our home. The other revelation I got concerning the presence of the Holy Spirit is this, for instance, let’s say you are not from China but need to stay in China for a while, which means you are in China, but you are not of China. You might know a few things or a few words, but for you to be successful during your stay in China, you’re going to need a chaperone, and it can’t be just any chaperone; it will have to be someone who has China in the palm of his hand. And this is who the Holy Spirit is to us, our chaperon, our strategist, the One who has the whole world in the palm of His hand. He is the One who will show us how to avoid or navigate through hurdles, and who will teach us the dos and don’ts of this life as He helps us remain clothed in our right mind.
And you might be asking, what does that look like in my daily life anyway? So please allow me to explain.
The Holy Spirit resides in you and since He is also God, He can use whatever He wants, whenever He wants, and however He wants to get your attention. The Holy Spirit will certainly use the Holy Bible to talk to you but that’s not all He can do. He can use a bird, a tree, a dream/vision, a child, and/or even the poor man down the street to get your attention because He needs your attention to work in you and through you. I will never forget that moment when the Holy Spirit wanted me to pay attention to something and to respond accordingly, but I was so inattentive to Him and what He was saying. And how I marveled at what He used at that time to get my attention. There was this road that I used to take to work almost every morning because it was less crowded, so I knew the road by heart and knew what to expect on each street. And there that morning, out of the blue in somebody’s front yard, a sign caught my attention, the yard sign said: “Knowledge is free but you still have to pay attention”, and it was then I realized the Holy Spirit needed my attention, and this also explains why the devil will try to do all he can to keep us distracted.
I have also learned that the Holy Spirit is our strategist in every season of our lives, and He is ever-present in the most difficult and darkest moments of life. For example, I remember a time in my life when God warned me about a season of drought coming my way, but He also promised to take care of me just like He used the brook and the ravens to supply Elijah’s needs (1 Kings 17: 2-6). So, when the season of drought came, I was waiting for some brook to show up miraculously at my place and was standing by the window making sure that all the shades of the windows were up so I wouldn’t miss the ravens and so that the ravens wouldn’t miss me. And let me tell you, I did not see any brook, and no ravens showed up. I don’t know if it’s because of the State that I live in, but no ravens were flying by my window and if it was for them, I would have died of hunger. However, one thing that I have also noticed during that season of drought is the faithfulness of God. I have realized that even though the ravens did not show up, God still took care of me and fed me every day.
So, how did the Holy Spirit intervene? He did not choose to use a brook or ravens this time, but He decided to use what I already had. Things that I didn’t even remember I had and gave me strategies on what to do with them to the point where it felt as if I wasn’t in a season of drought. And to make it plain, so deep down in my spirit, there would be ideas like this, do you remember that bag of rice and beans in the pantry? Or why don’t you buy this instead of that because it will last you longer? Another example is this, I used to buy packs of water then, and during that season of drought, I remember thinking about buying packs of water, but then came the Holy Spirit, reminding me about a Brita water Filter Pitcher along with a filter replacement that I had put away somewhere many months ago. As a result, I didn’t even have to worry about buying water for a while, which was in a sense the brook. And the Holy Spirit guided me on how to take care of everything else during that season of drought.
So, I say all this to say that the Holy Spirit is also our true strategist and there is no doubt about it. He is the One who is willing to help us navigate this thing called life, but we have to be open to learning and receive His guidance according to His will, which also means that our attention is required to partner with Him. So, let us be aware that the Holy Spirit is not limited, and it is never about what we don’t have but it is always about the One who is helping us, the One and only true strategist in this world, who is none other than the Holy Spirit.
SCRIPTURES
“And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” Acts 1:4-5
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:25-26
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