Gospel Reading, Sunday, May 26
John 16:13
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
An encounter with the Holy Spirit is such an amazing experience. Even in the most troubling and discouraging times, when the presence of the Spirit is revealed, great and amazing things happen and the connection to God is really experienced.
Last Saturday, CFC-Youth Calgary held its praise and worship concert, Magnum Deus (God is great). During the worship concert, one of the youth leaders was praising in tongues but it sounded different and he was brought out of the venue into the lounge, shaking and troubled. He asked to be prayed over because he felt the words coming from his mouth were not of God. He was also bothered because he drew a blank for his sharing. It was clearly the work of one who wanted to hinder what was to be the final sharing of the night.
As we prayed over him, I prayed for the spirit of calm, our God is a God of calm and peace, of love and joy and nothing is stronger than Him. It took some time to calm the youth leader down but when God’s warm embrace touched this youth, we were able to return to worshiping.
He still drew a blank for his sharing but I assured him that we got his back that we would be praying for him.
When his time to share came, he shared about not having anything to share. But in this emptiness, he declared that the Holy Spirit was in our midst, with so much conviction and force that I doubt if there was anyone in the room, who did not sense the presence of the Spirit. It was at that point that the Holy Spirit took over.
This declaration paved the way for a powerful close of the concert that to the last note played, the glory and power of God was vibrating throughout the building.
Many times, we feel so lost, troubled, scared. That is the work of the evil one, who knows how to use our weaknesses to his advantage. But as we empty ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to take over, there is only one outcome, the glory and power of God always remains victorious.
To Him, all the glory, praise and worship!