I spent a lot of time alone as a kid. I would often ride my bike around the neighbourhood in Mexico, where I grew up.
Sometimes I would have a few friends for a while, but eventually they would always leave or move away. We would meet people who came to our ministry, and they would then leave.
And so I would have a short time when people were around, and then I would be alone again. And since I had so much time alone, I ended up talking to myself all the time.
So I started to see Jesus as my only friend. He was always there no matter what. I would be riding around and see something, and I would be like,
“Hey, we should go check that out.”
I started to think it was a bit weird because I did it all the time. I would talk to myself and think through things that I was trying to figure out.
But I never felt alone because I knew that Jesus was always with me. I knew that if I was having trouble, someone was there with me going through it.
Jesus promised this to us when He said that He will not leave us, but will come to us. He said He will send the Comforter, who will not speak of Himself, but speak of Jesus.
John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter [like Me], so that he may continue to be with you forever;
Then He said,
John 14: 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. [GBMV]
As a kid who spent a lot of time alone, I needed comfort often. I had to find it in Jesus, and I trusted Him no matter what.
Things Change
Now, fast forward to recently. Not too long ago, I lost my father. He went to be with the Lord unexpectedly. I was really close to my Dad, and this devastated me. I mean, this really broke me.
You see, my Dad was always encouraging to me. I could go to him when I needed prayer or if I was feeling down. He was powerful in ministry and in the Word, and I looked up to him.
In the early days, I did not have a close bond with him. But I developed this in my teens. And my Dad became a kind of comforter for me. And I thank the Lord every day that I had such a blessing in my life.
But when I lost him, I realized how important my relationship with the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus is. I had, in a way, looked to my Dad to hear from the Lord for me.
And now that he was gone, I had to look to God myself. And I was finding this hard. It was at this point that I discovered that I had neglected the comforter.
He was always there for me for as long as I can remember. And even though I was not looking to Him as much, He was still there speaking to me deep in my spirit.
It does not matter what you do or how far you stray. The Comforter is with you, and He continues to speak to you from deep inside.
What He Says to You
He speaks what Jesus is saying to you. He does not force Himself on you, or make you listen. He just continues to speak softly and gently, all the time.
And so, when I went through this, I shouted at the Lord. I said,
“Why can I not hear your voice, Lord? Why are you not speaking to me?”
But I was hearing the voices that were the loudest in my mind. The voice of grief, the voice of depression. The voice of Satan trying to tell me that I failed and that is why this happened.
And so after I had gone through some of that for a while, I started to listen again and wait on the Lord. And I discovered that He was still speaking.
He was not flustered like I was. He was not stressed like I was. He did not allow anything to force Him or make Him do something. He just kept speaking like He always had been.
He Still Speaks to You
I want to remind you today that nothing can stop God from speaking. He speaks continually to you through the Holy Spirit who is living inside of you.
But what blocks us is the influences from the outside. The noise that drowns out what the Lord is trying to tell you. The noise of our experiences and our hurts of the past.
And you know something? He can even cut through that noise sometimes, if you are willing to listen. He can heal those hurts and remove them.
So here is my challenge for you today.
Make a choice now to cling to Him instead of your problems. Make a choice to rest and wait on Him because He is not rushed. He is a God of peace, and in Him there is no striving.
Psalms 37:7 Rest in the LORD [Yahweh], and wait patiently for him…
The scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit like a dove. A dove is easily scared away. And if it is scared, you may have to wait a bit for it to return.
Now, why would the Holy Spirit be scared?
I don’t know. All I know is that He speaks all the time and He speaks gently. And if you want to hear, you need to close your eyes and just wait on Him.
And then, just like that, He is there again.
No More Striving
Oh, how I strive to hear Him and to find out what to do. I get so stressed sometimes, and I want to do the right things to succeed in life or in ministry.
Until I am reminded of how simple faith is. How, as a child, I would just speak to Him, and He was there with me.
That is why Jesus said that we should be like children. He does not expect anything from you, other than to just listen to His voice and trust in Him.
And I know, without a doubt, that I will make this mistake again and again. I am human, and I fail all the time.
But the comforter is there to pick you up when you come running back.
I wanted to share this with you because perhaps you too are striving today.
Yeah, it will be hard sometimes. Trust me, I know. But never forget to listen to the still, small voice within you. It is always there, ready to lift you up, and show you that you are not alone.
And if you feel like you don’t deserve it, like you have been abandoned. That is the wrong voice speaking to you. He will never leave you or forsake you.
When you come back, He will be waiting for you with open arms.
I pray that today the Holy Spirit speaks to you. Perhaps He has used this post to bring you to that place. Or maybe you are still going through the trials in your life.
Know that He is there with you in the thick of it. The Comforter is with you today.
Blessings
John P. Crause
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