Holy Spirit Come

Hello dear friends, 

Today I am going to share a key take away the Lord gave me when I studied the book “Forgotten God,” by Francis Chan. I was blessed to study this book with some incredible women who have since become close friends and mentors in my life. I have read a few of Francis Chan’s books and will say although they are not easy reads, they are sure to make you take a look at the way you are living your life and direct you to full obedience to God. 

“Forgotten God”, was a challenging yet life-impacting book. I highly suggest this book to anyone wanting to better understand the relationship we are meant to have with the Holy Spirit.

I think it is amazing how God can use a bible study as a tool to impact individual readers in so many ways. My husband and I can read the same exact book and come out with two completely different messages. My take away from “The Forgotten God” was so perfectly crafted for me that I feel I must share it. It answered many questions I have had as a new Christian. One thing in particular, has completely changed my concept on what living for God actually means.

Let me give you some background information. Ever since my breakthrough moment of realizing I couldn’t live this life without Jesus, in 2011, I have been searching for my God given purpose. I have come close to the point of obsession trying to discover the exact plan God has for my life. I have read many books and listened to many Youtube sermons all in the effort to find out what my God given destiny is. When I learned we would be studying “Forgotten God,” one of the first thoughts was, “great, I’m sure the Holy Spirit will help me make my God given purpose more clear!” Reflecting now on these thoughts and the lengths I have gone through to try to figure out my purpose, just seems silly. How could I have gotten so off track? How could I have such a selfish motivation? It is surprising how quickly we can get off track when we try to work from our flesh instead of depending on the Spirit.

Ok, back to the message, I managed to make it about half-way through “Forgotten God” still waiting for that “ah ha” moment when Holy Spirit would give me a vision, a prophecy, a breakthrough of the exact plan and steps I should follow to live out the purpose God has for me. Boy, was I in for a news flash when I hit chapter 6!

The title of chapter 6 is, “Forget about His will for your Life.” Wait, what? Did I read that right? Come again? You can imagine my confusion, which quickly evolved to sheer disappointment as I read on through the chapter and realized the error of my ways. I am now going to list some direct quotes from this chapter that I have underlined.

“I think a lot of us need to forget about God’s will for my life. God cares more about our response to His Spirit’s leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year. In fact, the decisions we make next year will be profoundly affected by the degree to which we submit to the Spirit right now, in today’s decisions.”

“..dwelling on God’s plan for the future often excuses us from faithful and sacrificial living now.”

“Thinking, questioning, and talking can take the place of letting the Spirit affect our immediate actions in radical ways. God wants to see His children stake everything on His power and presence in their lives.”

Major reality check… but isn’t this so true? God wants us to follow him right now, not in 5 years when it makes more sense, or once we have found the step-by-step guide to our entire plan and feel prepared. I have unknowingly been using my quest of finding God’s will and purpose for my life as a cop out in my day-to-day living. How many opportunities have I missed, how many needs have I overlooked because I was too busy trying to figure out my ultimate purpose? Well…Not anymore. I pray Holy Spirit will help me forget about accomplishing a life purpose. I pray that Holy Spirit will come into my daily life, that He will wake me up, draw near to me and lead me on a daily basis. I pray that I will be bold and fearless in following him, even though I don’t have a clue as to where He is leading me or where I will end up in 5 years. That doesn’t really matter. It actually makes me feel more free, more light and ready to move!

After proof reading this post, it occurred to me that some of my readers might be confused about the way I am referencing Holy Spirit. That was another thing I learned from reading “Forgotten God.” Francis Chan states that we should speak to “Holy Spirit” not address Him as “The Holy Spirit”. Just like we wouldn’t pray to “the God” or “the Jesus.” I will dive into this in a near future post. I know as a new christian the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) was something that really confused me. Until then, I pray this post is relatable and that you gained something from reading it. I know I feel blessed just to be able to write it and reflect on such an important piece of wisdom that the Lord has been given to me.

God Bless you all,

Tatum