Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good new to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound
Selah is one of my favorite words. In Hebrew it means to listen to the voice of the Lord, to pause and consider what he says, and to always give him praise.
I believe the Holy Spirit is alive and well. He is constantly communicating with us. Through practice it is entirely possible to hear His voice. Sometimes this means an audible voice, though I have never heard it that way. Sometimes it is through prayer language, pictures, a word, a quite still voice, or simply knowing the Lord is speaking to you.
When the Lord speaks to Phil, one of our squad coaches, Phil listens. A few days ago I had been telling my team I fear they will not know I love them. Later in the day, Phil told me the Lord has given me a gift of compassion and love which needs to be shared with our squad.
In that moment I was encouraged because the Lord loves me enough to confirm my identity in the moment I was doubting by speaking to me through Phil.
When I shared that I had been encouraged by Phil’s words, he shared that the presence of the Lord can be felt when I walk into a room. Friends, I have been praying for years that people would know Jesus loves them simply because I exist. We have such a personal God, and he listens! I am so thankful for Phil and his listening to what the Lord is telling him to say in these moments.
My heart was and continues to be encouraged by the presence of the Holy Spirit. If these interactions were the only evidence I had that the Holy Spirit is active, I would have been content.
The next day we were informed we would be participating in ministry that was open ended. Our goal was to ask the Lord to whom he wanted us to minister.
My team of three sat down and spent time in prayer asking the Lord to reveal what he wanted us to see. Each of us saw an image. I saw a cat in a window. Skeptical, I thought this was probably a made up image in my mind and went into the ministry day with no expectations. I have never done ministry this way before and honestly worried that if I didn’t see a cat in a window I would be proven crazy.
As we were walking, I saw a veterinarian’s office across the street. I decided this was the most likely place to hold my image, so to the office we went. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that as we approached the office we indeed saw a cat in the window. Still, in the moment I was slightly stunned. We hadn’t seen any cats in that part of town before, and I was not expecting to see one now.
I wasn’t sure what to do next, so I asked the Lord again what his plan was. He simply told me to go inside. Yes, this seems obvious, but the Lord likes to give baby steps. I think we might get overwhelmed otherwise.
There was a woman working behind the desk and she looked at us expectantly. I began to sweat nervously because I was not getting anything from God. My internal dialogue sounded something like, “Okay, God, I’m inside. I found the cat I think you had me see, but I have no idea what to say to this woman. She probably thinks I’m crazy. Anytime now would be great. Aaaaaaanytime.” I still received nothing to tell this woman, so I simply told her God loves her. Maybe that was all she needed to hear.
The woman thanked us as a look of curiosity crossed her face. “Why did you know to come tell me this today?”
I told her that I had simply asked the Lord who he wanted to know he loved. She glanced down at her phone and a light appeared in her eyes. “Is it because I am worried about my mother this morning?”
“Yes! Probably.” The woman told us that her mother had been sick. She had been at the doctor’s office for much longer than normal that morning and she was worried.
We asked if we could pray for her and her mother, and she enthusiastically accepted. We prayed for healing for her mother. We cast out worry, declaring that it is not from the Lord. We prayed joy over both the woman and her mother.
The woman thanked us, we wished her blessings, and left.
The Holy Spirit is alive and well. He loves us personally. If we listen, he will tell us so himself. I am thankful for Phil speaking into my life and for the ability to speak into the life of a worried veterinarian.
I pray that myself and my team will continue listening to the voice of the Lord in order to communicate love to his children who he absolutely adores.
