The Realness of the Spirit

1 Kings 19:11-12

“The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

Over my time here at camp, I’ve been challenged in basically every way possible. That is especially true for my faith, it has been stretched daily. One of the biggest ways is through how I hear and experience the Holy Spirit. Like it says in 1 Kings, the Lord is in the gentle whisper. He’s not in the earthquake or the fire, but the tender whisper. It’s safe to say, training has been wild, day by day I feel more and more in tune with the Holy Spirit. My faith has switched from a belief in a God to a genuine two-way relationship with the Father.

This past Tuesday we hiked a mountain to camp for a night as a squad. We hiked for two hours on the way up, set up the tents and hammocks, then went to the cliff edge to watch the sunset. It was beautiful, just looking into the vast colors of the sky as the sun began to slowly drop beneath the mountains was incredible. While we watched the sunset, we saw someone on the neighboring cliff edge. We waved at him yelling, “HI!” A couple of us felt a pit in our stomach almost asking us to go talk to him. After some time that same man came over and told us he had taken pictures of our group for us so he wanted to send them to me to share. This started a long conversation about a bunch of different topics. After about 30 minutes, the topic of God came into play. We discussed what we’re doing as missionaries and got to share just how great God is. The man shared that had a ton of stuff on his mind, he was even expecting his first son. Then, the kicker, he shared that he specifically hiked this mountain and asked God to reveal himself to him. He asked God to give him a sign, and then here we come talking to him about God. Now you could call this a mere coincidence, but stories like this have been happening all the time. I never realized how much God was working until I truly looked for Him. It hasn’t even been four weeks and I already feel like I could ramble on for hours about how I’m seeing the Holy Spirit working all around me and in me.

Another story of the Spirit working in ways I’ve never experienced before happened this past Wednesday. We were having a time of worship with just our squad. Midway through, one of my leaders announced that she felt the Holy Spirit was calling her to speak in tongues and that someone there was going to receive an interpretation. Personally, I am not at all familiar with tongues, it’s still a really weird and new concept to me. However, I tried to keep an open mind, even though I thought it was kind of strange. But as she was about to start speaking the divine language my chest started to burn. Then it became more than just a burn, it became a weight, like my chest was getting sat on by the full weight of a pilgrim after thanksgiving. I had gotten this feeling before, I knew something was going to happen. Every time I have gotten this feeling, the Spirit was working. Then she began speaking in tongues. I didn’t hear anything initially but felt so overwhelmed with the weight on my chest that I started laughing. Then, out of nowhere, I heard “I am here.” Initially, I figured it was just my own thoughts. But it kept ringing in my head like an alarm clock I couldn’t snooze. I knew it was from the Lord. After she finished speaking tongues, we were all asked if we got any interpretations. One by one, around ten people gave interpretations. With each one, it made the theme more and more coherent. God was present in that place.

So what has changed? What has made me experience the Holy Spirit working in and through me in ways I never have before? The answer is a lot less exciting than you might expect. The answer is abiding in Christ. This training has made me realize how weak and futile I am on my own. I’ve discovered that every single time I act out of my own will it never works even half as well as when I listen to the Spirit. Never in my life did I think that the key to being a Godly man was to give up leadership and to be a servant. However, that’s what I’ve been striving for. I strive to let the Lord take control of my life, for me to be a mere servant at the dispense of the Holy Creator.

I’ve seen prayers answered, lives changed, and addictions healed. This has been more than a training, this has been a radical victory for the Kingdom of God.