How Do We Respond to Prompting by the Holy Spirit?
November 22, 2023
I took this photo while on a cruise in Glacier Bay, Alaska. I’m not 100% sure of the glacier’s name, but I believe it is the Johns Hopkins Glacier. The glacier is approximately one mile wide and 250 feet high above the water line.
You can see the beginnings of the ice calving from the face of the glacier as pieces of ice fall into the Johns Hopkins Inlet.
It’s this calving process I’d like to talk about today. Calving is the glaciological term for the mechanical loss (or simply, breaking off) of ice from a glacier margin. Calving is most common when a glacier flows into water (i.e., lakes or the ocean) but can also occur on dry land, where it is known as dry calving.
Think of calving as a two-step process. First, cracks occur along the surface of the glacier that extend downward toward the base. Over time these cracks open up with the top of the crack being wider than the bottom. One reason this happens is that as the glacier moves forward, the friction along the bottom of the glacier causes the bottom of the glacier to move more slowly than the top.
Second, the cracks fill with water and the pressure of the water exceeds the counter-acting pressure of the ice causing the cracks to deepen, sometimes to the base of the glacier. Eventually, the cracks get deep enough and open wide enough that a piece of the front of the glacier falls into the water.[1]
This whole process reminds me of how God works in our lives.
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“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26, ESV)
The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, is a source of wisdom, guides us, gives us spiritual gifts, and helps in our weaknesses.
Now the question becomes… What do we do from there?
Just as the cracks in the glacier react to the pressures acting upon them by widening and eventually causing pieces to break off, we need to decide if we are going to allow the Holy Spirit to be productive in our lives.
Will we make good decisions when we’re convicted? Will we use wisdom for good? Will we move in the right direction when guided? Will we use our spiritual gifts to do God’s will? Will we become stronger when helped?
I love the way Henry Blackaby and Claude King put it as they describe a Crisis of Belief. “The word crisis comes from a word that means decision. The same Greek word is often translated judgment. The crisis of belief is a turning point where you must make a decision. You must decide what you believe about God. How you respond at this turning point will determine whether you go on to be involved with God in something God-sized that only He can do, or whether you will continue to go your own way and miss what God has purposed for your life.”[2]
It’s clear that as we respond positively to the prompting by the Holy Spirit, that we grow in our relationship with the Lord. Our faith grows as we experience God using us. If we do nothing, or ignore the prompting, we essentially confirm our beliefs about God. If we don’t follow, then we are acting as if we don’t believe, and our faith falters a bit each time.
We have such great hope in the fact that we don’t have to live our lives alone. The Holy Spirit provides so much for us. But it’s up to us in how we respond to His prompting.
[1] https://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glacier-processes/glacial-lakes/calving-of-freshwater-glaciers/
[2] Blackaby, Henry T. and King, Claude V., Knowing and Doing the Will of God, Nashville, Tennessee, Lifeway Press, 1990, p. 109
Thanks for the post, Tim. I’m grateful God guides me and is patient with me and I do my best to follow Him.
Thanks, Joni. Me, too.
This post was a balm to my soul, Tim. I definitely don’t know how I would live without the Holy Spirit’s influence and guidance in my life. I had traveled over 2 hours, due to traffic, to take my mom to physical therapy. After lunch she was willing to go shopping at Walmart for a few things she needed… which is rare… because walking is hard for her. I took her, and to save her from walking so much, I would tell her to stay somewhere holding onto her walker, and I would go down the center rows of the store until I found the isle she needed to be on, then would go back for her. I would find the isle and look back for her, and she would have wandered off down another isle and I would end up hunting for her. In my mind, I was like… I don’t want to do this!!! Then the Holy Spirit got a hold of me and was like, “she never gets out. She just wants to see things.” My next thoughts were… “Jane, you are such a brat!” That put me in my place quickly and gave me the patience, calm, and joy of getting into the spirit of just looking at everything through her eyes. It showed me, without Holy Spirit guidance… I’m a brat! Ha Ha
Ha! Jane, you are so funny. I understand exactly what you mean. We’ve all (those of us with aging parents) have been there. And, as my wife and I remind ourselves, we will be that aging parent someday, too maybe. So, give yourself some grace and continue to do what you are doing. You are awesome!