I have never experienced the Holy Spirit as much as I have on this trip so far. Honestly, I knew about the Holy Spirit, but i guess I didn’t realize how powerful He was. And the more you listen and the more you practice listening to Him the more real He becomes and you begin to see the Almighty power that He is. This is a story from the Trakauna tribe about how it must be the Holy Spirit that moves people toward accepting him. It may voice a little frustration, but ultimately it is not us that saves but the Holy Spirit moving in people’s lives.
Alice, a lady who says that she is not saved, but goes to church, is the last lady that my group encounters on our house-to-house visits in this tribe. I am really trying to tone in to what the Holy Spirit wants to communicate to this lady, what He wants to share with her to make Himself more real. She said that she has never heard of Jesus so we begin to explain our saviour to her. You could tell that the holy spirit was pouring himself out through us because it wasn’t us talking but Him. I began to explain that she was a creation by the God of the universe and that He knows every detail about her and her life. I looked at her straight in the eye and said, “God loves you.” Her face lit up and she began to smile. It seemed as if it was clicking, she was getting it. I got so excited and the Spirit just kept giving me words to tell her. When we finished she spoke to our translator and he said that she said that she wasn’t ready to accept. But i thought she got it? She smiled? It clicked in her mind? I kept thinking of everything i should have said to her after i left that house; things that would have made her understand more about the saving grace of Christ, and i just got frustrated at myself and at God. This lady believed in God, but just not Jesus. How could i have made it more clear to her that all she needs is Jesus? It was frustrating because we seemed to be so close, but God said to me, “it is NOT you who saves, but i am the one who choses. You can sit there and talk to her all day about the things you know about me, but until my Spirit works in her heart she will never hear.” Wow. I cannot save her. The Holy Spirit has to work in her and i just have to pray that this seed that we planted today, will grow to be something huge. We must wait on the Spirit to move, and when He does, the power of God is released into this world, and things are never the same.
I Thessalonians 1:4-5 “For we know dear brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction.”
