An Available Presence

An Available Presence

Read: John 16:5-15

“It is for your good that I am going away.”

John 16:7

“There is no human power that can replace the power of the Spirit.”

—Lewi Pethrus

IN WORD These words must have sounded absurd to the disciples. They sound absurd to us, too. Good that Jesus isn’t with us? No one who has ever cried out “Where are you, God?” can fathom such a statement. An absent Savior? Our only refuge and help—missing in action? The One with the words of eternal life—working silently behind the scenes? It seems ludicrous to us that there would be any benefit in the absence of the One on whom we have pinned all our hopes.

Jesus tells us why, of course. The next verse explains that the coming of the Holy Spirit is contingent on Jesus’ departure. We know the benefit of His absence intellectually, and that the Holy Spirit is alive and present in our lives. But do we know this by experience? Do our minds tell us that the Holy Spirit is in us by faith while our hearts act as if the Spirit of Jesus is far away in a refuge called heaven? Many Christians lapse into knowing the Holy Spirit’s help as a psychological advantage but not as a supernatural blessing. He’s beneficial as a theological belief but difficult to know in experience.

But it need not be so. Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit is a gift for those persistent enough to ask for Him (Luke 11:13). So ask.

IN DEED Next time you’re trying to understand God’s Word or pray according to His will, next time you’re trying to overcome sin, next time you’re trying to make sense of your circumstances or relieve your pain, stop and remember the assistance available to you. He’s the greatest power in the universe, and He makes Himself known through faith and persistent asking. Don’t settle for a faint awareness that He is there somewhere, though you’re not sure where. Pound on the doors of heaven—read Luke 11:5-13 if that concept bothers you—until He’s a reality experienced in your heart. Remember that Jesus would not have left us in body unless He’d planned to come back to us in Spirit, deeper and fuller than we could have ever known Him otherwise.