Take Heart, the Holy Spirit is Not in Short Supply
In a world where everything seems expensive these days, I often find myself in a ‘conservation’ mindset. I carefully preserve leftovers from restaurants to use as additional meals, I strategically plan my errands route to conserve gas, and I surely do park across the interstate from Kauffman Stadium in a little known free parking area so I don’t have to pay to park on Royals’ game days. I’m sure you do some of these same kinds of things.
One way I conserve money that brings me a particularly comical amount of satisfaction is related to my monthly utilities bill. I live in a studio loft that is small enough to heat up or cool down fairly quickly, depending on the season. So when I leave for work in the morning, no matter what the outside temperature is, I turn the air off (the air conditioning in the summer and the heat in the winter). When I return home usually 8-10 hours later, yes, my loft may be pretty cold/warm, but with a quick flip of the switch, it adjusts to a more comfortable temperature within minutes. Why pay for an empty living space to be heated or cooled while I’m gone at work, right? Especially when I know it doesn’t take long for it to feel fine once I’m back home. And I must say, when I get my monthly bill and it’s satisfyingly low, I just feel like I really beat the system, ya know? Not much feels better. Ha!
Sometimes, I admit, I take my little utility conservation game further than necessary. For example, right now the weather is warm. Summer will soon fade, but for now, the outside temps are still high. Here’s my summertime game plan for staying comfortable overnight without spending too much money on air conditioning while I sleep: I let the A/C run for a while right before I’m ready to call it a night. But then, of course, I turn it back off right before I head to bed. So when I go to sleep, it’s nice and cool, and then it slowly warms back up throughout the course of the night. When all goes according to plan, I’m sleeping so deeply that I don’t really notice until my morning alarm clock sounds. 🙂
Now I just sound like a crazy person, don’t I? (But we all have a little bit of crazy inside, right?) If it makes you feel any better, my financial stinginess does not carry over into every area of my life. Take me to a bookstore, and of course I will buy a new hardcover book even though I have at least 10 books in my bookshelf at home that haven’t been read yet… But I’ll buy one every single time.
Whether or not strategizing creative ways to save money is fun and satisfying for you like it (sometimes) is for me, thankfully, there are some things we never need to conserve. One early this morning this summer as I crawled back into bed after grudgingly turning on the A/C so I could sleep more comfortably for the last few hours of the night, God whispered in my ear, at least you don’t need to strategize and conserve when it comes to the Holy Spirit.
Wow! What great news, don’t you think? I thought about that as I drifted back to sleep, and it was still on my mind when I woke back up to start my day. Can you imagine a world where you could only ask the Holy Spirit for help, wisdom, guidance, comfort or insight a certain number of times each day? Can you imagine thinking things like this: Well, I better not ask for help now in case something crazy happens later today. …or… Darn it, I used up my weekly allotment when I was trying to make that decision on Monday. I sure wish I could ask the Holy Spirit to join me in my Bible study today, but I guess I’ll have to wait until next week. What a sad predicament that would be!
Thankfully, when God first unleashed the Holy Spirit on believers, as we read about in Scripture, He did just that—unleashed it. He didn’t carefully measure it out or just dribble some here and there. It was an outpouring!
This outpouring of the Spirit was first foretold in Isaiah…
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. -Isaiah 44:3
Then in Joel…
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. -Joel 2:28-29
And then it came to pass in Acts…
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. -Acts 2:1-4
I’m so incredibly thankful that God pours His Holy Spirit out on us. We don’t need to strategize and conserve it. It is readily available to us at any time. You can ask the Spirit for help, discernment and guidance on the big decisions in your life and also for the teeny tiny ones. Trying to figure out how to word an email? Need wisdom with a decision regarding which hotel room to book for your upcoming trip? Seeking godly direction as you determine whether or not to make a quick trip home for a particular event? The Holy Spirit has been poured out on all believers, and He is willing and able to help you—even with things like these that may seem more trivial and inconsequential. You don’t need to worry about hitting a quota or the supply running dry. And you certainly don’t need to only turn to the Holy Spirit when you’re facing a more serious situation.
When God poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost all those years ago, He was also generously lavishing His Spirit on you. Believers of Jesus in all times and places have been blessed with the unmatchable gift of the Holy Spirit, and this Spirit will not run out. You can use it inexhaustibly and “irresponsibly,” without regard for the possibility that it might run dry. …because it won’t. Ever. Thanks be to God! Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit on us in abundant fashion, today and every day.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” -Luke 11:11-13