Taking baby steps with the Holy Spirit
By Linda
Growing up in church, I was quite familiar with God the Father and with Jesus, but the Holy Spirit I knew very little of. When I was 15, I heard, for the first time, people speaking in tongues and saw some manifestations of the Holy Spirit. It was all very new and confusing to me, and it didn’t fit into any of my boxes. To be honest, I actually had a bit of a faith crisis for a few weeks — I basically told God: ‘If this is how You operate, I am not sure I want to have anything to do with You.’ Over time, by His kindness and mercy, He restored trust in my heart, even though there were parts of Him that were still very strange to me.
In university, I had an increased desire for more of Him. I was also tired of religion and tradition that I so often got stuck in. I was tired of hitting the same wall again and again, and wanted to be able to go past that feeling of separation and experience greater intimacy with God. In my third year of university, after a few months of contemplating, mixed with a growing a desire for more, I was baptized – with water and the Holy Spirit. I still remember the day after, how I felt like a baby, not sure how to react, what was different, what had changed? But I also sensed that it was a step of faith and obedience that I took.
A year after my baptism I looked back and realized how my “walls” were gone and that I was experiencing a greater freedom. I started to see more and more how He worked in and also through me. It all began with baby steps. We all know that inkling we get from the Spirit, but are sometimes so afraid to act upon it. And when we don’t, we have that increased unsettledness.
That year, I remember one day walking past a girl who lived on my corridor in the dorms. I sensed I had to ask her something specific. The challenge was, I didn’t really know her and actually felt intimidated by her. In that moment I was too afraid to ask and walked back to my room, but had that growing conviction that I had to go back and talk to her. Very shy and afraid, I returned and started the conversation with: ‘I am starting to learn to hear God’s voice, and feel I need to ask you if there is something about your sister.’ She looked at me, totally shocked – how did I know? What I didn’t know was she heard the previous night that her sister was about to have a divorce. I then asked if we could pray for her sister and brother-in-law. A few weeks later she shared how God intervened in her sister’s situation, and they were not getting divorced.
Another time I needed a miracle myself. I arrived late at night at the dorms after a missions event. The front door of the dormitory had a lock with an access code that changed every few days. Standing in front of the door I realized I didn’t know the code and wasn’t able to phone anyone. It was late, dark, cold and I was all by myself. Out of the blue, four digits popped into my mind and I thought ‘yeah right?!’ But I decided to give it a try. As I entered the code, guess what? The door opened! I was in so much shock and wanted to test that it wasn’t a fluke, so I closed the door! Ha! As I entered the code the second round it opened again. My heart was filled with so much joy and excitement! As I checked the next day with our dormitory leader, the digits that came to mind was exactly what she had written on her list – which I had never seen before!
These years in University were a good introduction to the person of the H-ly Sp-rit, and some of His gifts, and I started to hear His voice. I also became more aware of His deep love for me, and His love for others.
After working for a few years in South Africa post-university, Linda was sent out by All Nations Cape Town to the Middle East for 11 years. She shares about what she learned there about the Holy Spirit in tomorrow’s blog post.
