Beauty is something God hands out liberally. Beauty is easy to see from many angles, something that brings this unique kind of power with its presence.
At training camp these last four days we talked a lot of about the Holy Spirit. It was amazing to hear stories of Him moving in the people who were sitting in the chairs next to me, sharing meals with me, and sleeping in the same room as me. God’s spirit is the beautiful power that cannot be compared to any other, and somehow He has deemed us, humans, valuable enough to literally make his dwelling in. That’s a strange concept to comprehend. I believe that our minds weren’t created to be able to fully understand the all-encompassing glory, and stunning, raw strength of the Lord. At least not until we get to heaven! But what is cool is to be able to just get a taste of that gorgeous spirit moving in and among us.
As we were preparing to be sent to the world, there was a beautiful moment when I know the Holy Spirit was with us 75 souls, a moment that I feel I need to share with you all. I was raised in a highly conservative church, and though I would argue that I am very open minded to the concept of the Holy Spirit speaking to us personally, and doing His work through us, I believe very strongly in discernment.
In this particular moment, we had just finished a session with an amazing speaker who had talked about having an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. He then instructed us to move all the chairs in order to have a free sort of worship session. He told us to listen in prayer to what the Holy Spirit was trying to say to us individually, and most importantly, to pray with each other.
So there I was, standing there, struggling to hear a voice I had not personally heard before, speaking words into my thoughts. As I began to get more solidified in the belief that He was not going to speak to me, I took a breath, and began instead to listen to what the Holy Spirit was doing that moment; around me instead of inside me.
All of a sudden, rather than hearing the echoes of my own distracted and frustrated thoughts, I heard the voices of the 75 plus people in the room expressing their love, devotion and commitment to God. The music team was playing a gorgeous worship melody, and the room was, in a single second, filled to the rafters and beyond with beautiful whispers, all speaking to our Creator HIMSELF, begging Him for his presence in the room, and to guide us in our travels the coming months. I mean, all I can say is that I got some MAJOR chills!
Oh, and He was definitely there with us. I can’t really explain the feeling of the Holy Spirit, but I would encourage you to seek it because you will be blown away!! Even though I didn’t hear a direct voice from the Lord, He showed me, and so many others, his presence in a different way that was so unexpected.
If you don’t get the chance to fellowship with a body of believers like this, I encourage you to try it. I promise, God wants to show you his beauty. You will never forget or regret the experience.
