"Who Is My Dictator?" #3

"When we are at our wits' end for an answer, then the Holy Spirit can give us an answer. But how can he give us an answer when we are still well supplied with all sorts of answers of our own?" Karl Barth

"There's nothing worse than insecurity. So many people live in fear because they are uncertain about what comes next and their standing before God, if they even believe in God. On the flip side, there's nothing better than being absolutely sure that the most powerful Being in the universe adores you as his own child. This is precisely the confidence the Holy Spirit offers us." Francis Chan (Forgotten God)

We all live with questions. For some, those uncertainties define their life and they live on the edge of a scary cliff that appears to be an endless "black hole". Ever been there? You try to look ahead but all  you can see is intense darkness. You strive to give some sort of clarity to the enigmas that pop up out of nowhere or you struggle to understand the indifference of your spouse or teenager. Question, questions, questions!

But, we want answers - NOW!

I'm no philosopher, nor am I anything close to a psychiatrist so I am unqualified to offer anything that even resembles a professional scientific judgment. What I am is a husband, father, grandfather, Bible student and observer of human beings. Goes with the territory of half a century of ministry and personal struggle. The most important element of my education has come from reading, listening, observing, prayer and meditation and of course asking questions. Here's what I've learned and can testify to as true.

"The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught us by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
      'For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?' (Isaiah 40:13'
But, we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 NIV

There is a very logical reason why Jesus referred to what we call the "conversion experience" as being BORN AGAIN. Literally, God wipes out our past, just erases all of it in order to replace all those failures and disappointments with something new and infinitely good, the "mind of Christ". So, we start all over again but this new birth is "from above". What happens, if it is truly the "NEW BIRTH", is we get a new "Dictator".

I said before that this term may sound a bit strange when applied to God's Holy Spirit, but that is what he works hard to be for us, the director, instructor, manager, and sole voice that we learn to hear. And its a lifetime process of asking our questions and patiently trusting that God will gives the answer that is best for us or simply says to us like he did Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you". He may not always give us the answer we had anticipated or wanted. He may give us something more or something different. Or, he may simply say, not yet, deal with it.

Francis Chan is exactly right about God's love and his great pride in his children but that doesn't mean he will always give us everything we want, especially answers to all of our questions. Those answers will come in time and faith in God's fatherly compassion keeps us focused on the future, looking ahead. The Holy Spirit keeps us grounded in that confidence and always leads us away from fear and desperation to absolute peace. Why? Like Paul said, "We have the mind of Christ." HALLELUJAH!