The Spirit Encourages Us
In Acts 9:31 we read “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.”
Encouraged by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps today you need this encouragement from the Spirit of God.
God is our great encourager. All throughout the Bible, it seems one of God’s chief purposes is to encourage His people. One of my favourite verses of all time in fact is Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
God's Presence Encourages
Pentecost, in a sense, was a repeat of this great promise of God, as he became present with us at all times through the Spirit. Don’t be discouraged, he said to Joshua, be encouraged because I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, he says to you and I today, be encouraged because I am with you!
The ministry of presence is something we often speak of as “pastoral carers”. The ministry of presence is being with someone in a tough time – but not preaching, not figuring out, not explaining stuff away, just being in someone’s presence in their difficulty.
I remember the first week I started here at my new church, I was asked to do a funeral for lady about my age who had committed suicide after a long terrible battle with depression and mental illness. I drove out to the family and sat with them. They were shell-shocked. In a daze. I sat there silently pleading with God: what do I say Lord, give me words, I’ve got nothing! And I realised, I didn’t have to offer any explanations or preach. Just being there, just sitting with them and crying with them and sharing in their pain, was encouragement enough.
Maybe you’ve experienced this: simply a hug or a handshake, and someone sitting with you in silence can be the most encouraging thing you can wish for in a tough time.
Well God is the expert of the ministry of presence. He sent His Spirit to fill us, to gift us with His presence. Perhaps the believers were “encouraged by the Spirit” simply because they knew the Spirit was in them. Just knowing that they were not alone, that God was truly physically with them through the Spirit – that must have given them enormous encouragement.
Spirit Brings Comfort
Perhaps today you need to hear this word from God: be encouraged, because I am with you. Perhaps today you need to be reminded that when you yield to God, when you surrender to Him and empty yourself, letting the Spirit rush in, your loneliest days are over. You can be encouraged because His Spirit is within you, and He will always be with you.
In fact one of the names that Jesus used for the Holy Spirit was the Comforter. Because that is what He does. So be comforted, be encouraged today, simply because the Spirit is with you, and in you, and close to you always.
His ministry of presence makes all the difference.
