Good Morning, Holy Spirit!

Andy and I were watching a movie last night and the character said, “You’re always looking to the next thing.  You think, when I get married, or when we have kids, or when the kids grow up and leave home and it’s just us again, then things will be different.”    Her basic point was that she kept having hope for her relationship with her husband to change thinking that a new stage of life would bring improvement, but she was continuously disappointed. 

 

You know, I think Christians are the same way – or at least the Christian writing this blog is the same!  Lately, at least, I feel like I am always looking for happiness and waiting on it to show up.  I do some looking forward, “When we have a new house (one without roaches and a nicer bathroom)” or “When I’ve finally made friends in this town” or “When I’ve figured out how to effectively manage teaching an increased number of students.”  And I also do some looking back (ok, A LOT of looking back): “If only Kristy, Amy, and Alycia taught at my new school,” “If only Emily or Rebecca or Ashley or Sara or Marianne lived here,” or “If only I was still living in my old house.”  You know where my focus is in ALL of those thoughts?  Myself.  The absolute WRONG place for a focus to be.

 

In my Bible Study this week, our leader (whom I already greatly admire) said, “Every morning I wake up and I say, ‘Good morning, Holy Spirit.  Who do you want me to serve today?’”  She followed her comment by saying that before her feet hit the floor in the morning, the Holy Spirit puts people in her mind that need her attention and care.  From the time she wakes up, she makes other people and their needs her focus.  And she shared several stories about how the timing of her service to others resulted in amazing miracles for the glory of God. 

 

You know what I think I’m learning lately, and why I think her approach is perfect?

 

1. We aren’t made to be completely happy on earth.  2 Corinthians 5:1-5 compares earth to a tent that we live in for now and that we groan and long for our heavenly home.  Verse 5 says God made us feel this way so we will feel the promise of what is to come.  One day this week, it hit me that I’ll probably never live in the same place as some of my best friends again.  Andy doesn’t have a job that is flexible in terms of where we live, and I have friends who will likely spend the rest of their lives in eastern North Carolina.  The realization makes me long for heaven when we’ll finally all be in the same place again!

 

2. We are made to serve.  Isaiah 58:6-8 is too beautiful not to quote in this post.  It says, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of  injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked to clothe them, and not to turn away from you own flesh and blood?  Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”  God has asked us to bring healing and comfort to those in need so that he can bless us.  Verse 9 goes on to say that after we do all of these things when we call for help from the Lord he will answer us.  After we have answered the needs of others, he will answer our own needs.

 

I’m also learning that I have it pretty good.  My church has been doing a series on social justice, and I’m also in a Bible Study with women who are really open about their own struggles.  Hearing the problems other people deal with on a regular basis makes me so thankful that, for now, God has blessed me with a loving husband, family, and friends.  He has given me a good job and a comfortable living situation and the freedom to practice my faith without persecution.  Life on earth was never designed to be perfect, and my expectations are way off if I look for it to be all the things I desire it to be – I won’t find that kind of home until I go to heaven.

 

For now, it is my job to wake up in the morning and say, “Good Morning, Holy Spirit.  Who do you want me to serve today?”