So, who or what is the Holy Spirit to you? As we’ve explored the Holy Spirit and its influence in our lives over the last few weeks, we’ve been challenged to see how the part of the trinity that is the most mysterious moves in practical and profound ways in our lives. In Brad’s sermon, he spoke of many different ways the Holy Spirit works in our lives, but the one that stuck out the most to me was when he spoke of the Spirit Affirming our place in God’s family. He used the GNT version of Romans 8:14-16, ending in “God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children.” It reminded me a little bit of that scene in Peter Pan when Peter is trying to reconnect his shadow. Sometimes we experience things in life that make us feel like the Spirit is far from us, or even hidden from us. But, we still catch glimpses of it as we go through life, as the Holy Spirit works to intercede between our wandering hearts and God’s firm foundation. In moments of doubt and turmoil, we may even feel like the Spirit is separate from us, but that’s never the case. Unlike Peter and his wayward shadow, the Holy Spirit is always at our side, always stuck to us, always moving in and for us.
If you’re going through a season where you feel like the Holy Spirit is absent from your life, go outside on a sunny day and look at your shadow. You cannot lose it, no matter how hard you try. The same is true of God’s Spirit in you. It is a part of you, joined to you, and leading you into His plans for your life.