"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:16–18 KJV).
What an astonishing, amazing, impressive promise! It is the promise of a relationship with a "parakletos", the Greek word for one called alongside to help, one who pleads before a judge on another person's behalf. Our Comforter pleads with God the Father for the pardon of our sins. He rescues us. He also teaches us. After Christ left the disciples, He sent the Comforter to lead them into deeper knowledge of the Gospel and give them divine strength to endure trials and persecutions. It is the Spirit that reveals God's thoughts to us. The Spirit renews us and empowers us.
God is concerned about our state of mind. Our condition is important to Him. By the Spirit He dwells in all believers all the days of our lives. The comfort of the Holy Spirit is a practical power.
So many times, I find myself in situations beyond my control, and I know that it is the Holy Spirit that gives me strength. Once, when my daughter's financial aid was rescinded and she was threatened with having all her classes canceled, the Holy Spirit reminded me that God is not a God of confusion. I called the financial aid director at the university right away, who forwarded me to an assistant in the loan department, who told me I had to submit paperwork and wait three months. It was already mid-semester, and I expressed the urgency of the situation, eventually speaking with the Board of Education directory personally. He agreed to revisit the loan and get back to me by the end of the day. He did, and after his consideration, the loan was re-approved!
I thought everything was now in place. However, after trying to get in touch with the financial aid department for nine consecutive days, they told me they didn't know anything about the re-approved loan or the director’s whereabouts.
About 5:00 A.M. the next morning, I got in my car, drove from New York to Washington D.C. to the financial aid director’s office. After a couple minutes of waiting, she walked in and saw me there, shocked to see me of course. She explained, “The minute I got off the phone with you, I received an emergency call that my dad had a heart attack, I rushed straight to the hospital without assigning anyone to take care of the problem for your daughter’s tuition. No one knew anything about it.”
What just happened? Did this happen to discourage me?
I was convinced that God was with me all along, no doubt, He made sure, He cleared the path for me to get the approval of the loan.
No one knew anything about the problem but God, the director of financial aid and me.
Was God trying to show me that He has everything under control? Was the adversary trying to discourage me? Was God teaching me patience? Was the Holy Spirit leading me to continue to persevere?
Yes, to all the above!
God will not leave us comfortless. Jesus did not abandon us to struggle through life alone. He provided for the disciples and He provides for us now. "According to His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness..." (2 Peter 1:3). Can we fathom what Christ sacrificed on our behalf? He bore the load of the guilt of sin, and His divine power is needed especially in confusing times such as this. He gave us the Holy Spirit to grant His divine power to His followers. Thank God for His promise! He knew the chaos we would face and tasked the Spirit to help us. Incredible!
Call to Action
Ask God by His Spirit to hover over the dark and chaotic times in your own life. His Spirit hovered over the dark, formless void at creation, and He will also hover over you and fill you with God’s presence, no matter what the circumstances. He has promised it!
Unless noted otherwise, scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission
