I love mysteries and puzzles! It’s just that I am not very good at solving them. In fact, it is safe to say that my ‘mystery solving ‘career’ is one long list of sad failures. Remember Rubik cubes? You should do as they have recently come back into fashion (remember Will Smith solving one in ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’). I heard with some bitterness about people being able to solve them in about 10 seconds! The only Rubik Cube I ever owned took me about 2 years to get halfway through before I hit a wall. By that I mean the Rubik Cube hit a wall, thrown away in disgust and neither of us ever totally recovered from the experience.
The other puzzle that has always been a mystery to me is those 3 D pictures. I have stared at them until I am cross eyed but still never once made out a picture! I think everyone else just pretends they can see them to annoy me (and it’s working – I am really annoyed).
In many different ways the Holy Spirit can be both a mystery and puzzle to us. Yesterday, we celebrated Pentecost Day, which is the day the Church remembers the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples in
To say that something in our faith is a mystery does not mean it cannot be understood or experienced, but just to say that we cannot box it into one particular understanding. Instead there are endless layers of depth and insight that are uncovered as we move forward on our journey of faith.
But even though there may be much in the Holy Spirit that is a mystery to us, we do need to know that we can trust God in this matter, just like we can in everything else. Mystery or not, Jesus makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is still God, and we need to remember that we can trust God’s kindness and goodness with all of our heart and soul. Many of us read the story of Pentecost, of the Holy Spirit falling down on the disciples like tongues of fire and them speaking in many different tongues, and we are left feeling somewhat uneasy.
The thought I would like to leave with you today is this: the definition of the third person of the Trinity is GOD WITH US RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW, working in our world. Everything that Jesus is – the Holy Spirit is. Jesus clearly explained this to his disciples in John 14 when he said something along the lines of: here on earth I am limited by my physical body, but when I go I won’t leave you alone, the Father will send to you another, a Comforter, Convictor, Liberator and Friend. Everything that Jesus is – the Holy Spirit is; everything that Jesus revealed God as – the Holy Spirit is.
What this means for us is that there is much we may not understand, there may even be things about the Holy Spirit that leaves us feeling uneasy, but that we CAN totally and utterly trust the Holy Spirit. Just we like can trust the other two persons of the Trinity.
Spend some time today thinking about the Holy Spirit. What is your understanding of the Holy Spirit – what thoughts and feeling well up within you when the subject comes up? Are you comfortable relating to God as the Holy Spirit? Why or why not? Write some of your thoughts down and then pray the following prayer.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Thank you O God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We pray that you would bring us to a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit’s role in the church and world today. Fill us with your Spirit we pray. Amen.
FOCUS
Acts 2. 1 4 NIV
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.
