Day 34 - I Am Not In Control...He Is

Where the Spirit is, there is freedom and life.

Do you ever watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition? Don’t the builders and renovators do an amazing job with some of those houses? When the inhabitants get to see their homes after they’ve been made over, they are incredibly overwhelmed. Most of the time, they cry...as do I.

Look at 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. Paul is describing Extreme Makeover Eternal Edition, isn’t he? He contrasts our earthly bodies and our future heavenly, transformed bodies. He is very intentional when describing the physical versus the spiritual. The physical is described as a tent while our spiritual home is called a house. When I think of a tent, I imagine a temporary and transportable shelter. It’s like the Holy Spirit is on a life long camping trip with us. He dwells with us right now in all of our momentary troubles and travels. But the entire time He is reminding us to keep our eyes fixed not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. And no matter how much I struggle while on the camping trip called life on earth, I can have complete confidence in my eternal destination because the Holy Spirit is my guarantee!

You might struggle with having or feeling this confidence. Your sail may not be full of His wind. So how do you know that the Spirit is present? Do you have any evidence? What about when we are in a situation and a specific Scripture comes to mind seemingly out of the blue? What about the times we are convicted of sin? Or what about the times when we restrain from selfish behavior? What about when we are prompted to love? All of these are evidences that the Spirit is present and active. The Spirit is actively transforming us as we let Him lead us. And knowing that we have a home prepared for us weakens the grip of worry about our eternal life. These are all evidences of His presence in our lives. And ultimately the Spirit at work in us gives us freedom. It allows us to live a life that exemplifies Christ and His teachings. There is nothing like that anywhere else.

If you Google sailing, you will find blog after blog and forum after forum of people who love sailing and want to tell others how wonderful it is. Their lives are so transformed by their love for sailing, especially when they have had the wind in their sails and seem to be skimming over the water. They speak of such a feeling of freedom that transcends earthbound life.

That’s what the Holy Spirit can do for Christians, but the freedom we experience is immeasurably more comprehensive then just a physical or temporary experience of sailing. Are you willing to let Him have that control?