Minor Encounters with the Holy Spirit
I am not sure there is such a thing as a ‘minor’ encounter with the Holy Spirit. But I have found that God is in the habit of touching our lives in small ways to demonstrate His presence, His faithfulness, His love, and His goodness. God is for us, not against us. He shows this in many ways including speaking to us through the Holy Spirit, through minor miracles or ‘coincidences’, and by answered prayers. Here are three ‘minor’ examples of what I believe are encounters with the Holy Spirit that happened to me in the last 48 hours.
We left our home in NC yesterday to drive 13 hours to central NY to stay at our small cabin and visit family and friends. As I was packing the night before I went to look for the key chain with the keys to the cabin and garage. Normally these keys are in a certain drawer. They weren’t there. Judy and I both looked. Then we looked everywhere else we imagined they might be. No keys. At that point I began to think I had left them in the cabin at the end of the summer.
I sat down and asked God, “Lord, can you show me where the keys are?” I didn’t get a specific answer, but I sensed that they were not in NY. After that, nothing.
Judy and I spent another hour or so looking for the keys. Still, nothing. About an hour later I got a strong sense that they were in a bag in the basement storeroom. I even thought I knew what bag to check. As I walked down the stairs to the basement I knew I would find the keys. I opened the bag, searched all of the pockets and . . . no keys. What!? I was sure I had heard, “check the bag in the basement storeroom”. Just before I turned out the light in the storeroom, I saw a small pack on the shelf. I looked at that bag and spoke out loud, “No way. They could not be in that pack”, but I really sensed God smile and say, “Look in that bag.” I did, and there were the keys.
Such a small thing. Compared to what some are experiencing, insignificant. Did God really help me find a set of lost keys? The God — creator of the entire, infinite cosmos? I believe He did. I know I would have NEVER checked that bag. But that is God. He is kind, present, and wants to be intimately involved in every aspect of our lives — really big things as well as very small things. God is speaking to us — we just need to have ears to hear. I believe what happened with the keys was a ‘word of knowledge’.
The next morning at 5:00 AM we were on the road, beginning a 13 hour drive. After driving till about 8:00 AM, Judy took the wheel and I settled into the passenger seat. A few minutes later I sensed that I needed to send a text message to my nephew telling him we were on our way. One of the reasons we were going back north was to spend some time with my family there before the winter and he needed to know we were coming up this week.
Anyway, I got a strong urge to text him. Here is the screen shot from my phone:
I texted my nephew Chris at 8:04. He texted me at the same minute — 8:04. Is this a coincidence? Strange, for sure. How can I prove that this was the work of the Holy Spirit? I can’t, but in my spirit I sensed God’s winsome sense of humor in the timing of this text message exchange. I’ll see my nephew on Sunday. I’ll ask him why he picked that exact time to send his message. To me, this is an example of a ‘sign and wonder’.
One last small encounter with the Holy Spirit. The 13 hour drive from NC to NY is usually interminable and really hard. Before this trip I asked the Lord to not only keep us safe, but to help the drive pass quickly and asked others to pray the same. And it did pass by quickly. It was the ‘fastest’ trip we have ever had. Not a big deal, but once again I sensed the presence of God as we drove north on I-81. Before I knew it we were driving onto the small road leading to the cabin. 13 hours and no fatigue. For me, this was an answered prayer!
We are mistaken when we believe that God does not involve Himself in every detail of our lives. We are also mistaken when we believe that God does not want us to ask Him for what we need. It is a bigger mistake to believe that we can use God to to get what we want — as our own personal genie in a bottle. But God delights in showing us His presence and power, not only in huge things like healing cancer, intervening in life and death situations, or healing wounded hearts; but also in the small things in our lives. He shows us His presence in many ways including words of knowledge, signs and wonders, and answered prayers. And He does these things for us every day, if we will only look, see, and hear with the eyes and ears of our hearts. Too often I say, “what a coincidence”, “what luck”, or “can you believe that just happened?”, not ever thinking of God and so missing His loving kindness and His glory — the outstreaming manifestation of His power and presence.
“Cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5: 7).
John