The Complete Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Last week when I was reading the 23rd Psalm the Lord spoke deeply to my soul about restoration. He uses the quiet times, the down times to comfort us. When we are in a place of complete dependence to Him Who holds our very life in His hands, there He reveals Himself as the Comforter.

In the Hebrew text, comfort means “breathe strongly, as in pity or sorrow; console.” And the word “comforter” means “to bend beside, lean over (so as to peer within, look into, stoop down.)” This kind of intimate knowing comes from those times of vulnerability and trust, walking with our God in the hard times, and the quiet times. Yes, He already knows us. But in these times we are known for how we bear life’s hardness. We are known, not in a judgmental way, but in a way where the Comforter can walk alongside of us, helping and succoring us. God’s goal is that we make it, successfully.

If the Holy Spirit is the Great Helper, Come-Alongsider, and knows us during our most vulnerable moments, then what example do we see in Jesus, the essence of God in the flesh of Man? In Isaiah 53:3 we read about Jesus that He was a man “acquainted with our sorrows.” The Hebrew word for acquaint is “to know (to ascertain by seeing) . . .” Here again with have the visual image of the One Who stoops down and peers within our very being during those times when we may be most withdrawn due to sorrow. Jesus carries our sorrows, not only knowing us in them, but bearing them by His Spirit. He is not indifferent, but cares deeply for us. He wants us to know Him as He Who Cares Deeply.

When God walks with us, He has our victory in mind. But it is necessary to build an intimate relationship with us in order that we can receive His care. There is a care that can only be given in complete dependency on God. It is letting Him do what we formerly did ourselves. It is letting Him nurture us in ways we have not been nurtured in since we were children. In Psalm 41:3 we read that God makes our bed when we are ill. The word “makes” is translated from the Hebrew term that means “turn about, change, convert.” God changes things when we are dependent on Him. We are converted to His way of thinking, learning not only that He cares deeply about us, but what other things He cares deeply about. We become more like Him in His comforting nature . . . and this is His design. This “becoming like Him” nature is deposited in us only in times of intimacy. But our knowing of His ways follows out of the valley of the shadow of death (or other sorrows) and lives in us to comfort others (2 Cor 1:4). And the comfort wherewith we comfort others leads them to know God more intimately also. We find that God will use us in the ministry of the Comforter, just as He uses us in other aspects of the Holy Spirit’s functions. We may speak in tongues and prophesy when He moves that way, or He may allow us to peer inside our aching brother’s heart and minister to him in his sorrow. We become a people who appreciate our brother, even if he can do no service for God or Man. We can appreciate his worth because God appreciated us, and walked with us through those times of stillness and inactivity. We can covet that our brother know Jesus during his hard times because we have trusted our souls to the One Who brought us through ours.

Since this is the nature of the Holy Spirit, to Comfort us in the most vulnerable times of our lives, we might ask why we should take on this behavior also. It is often awkward to step into someone’s troubled life, yet when the Holy Spirit does this He builds an intimate relationship with people. Jesus told an interesting parable in which we see that it is God’s intention for us to take on the nature of the Comforter. The parable begins “When the Son of Man comes in His glory . . .” (Mt 25:31-46). We should take note of this parable for Jesus is about to tell us what is important to Him. He proceeds to tell us that His angels will separate the goats from the sheep. Since the sheep receive God’s kingdom, their inheritance, what did they do differently than the goats, who are punished? Jesus tells the sheep “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” The sheep became acquainted with the trials their brethren were going through, and served them.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit to our brethren should increase as we grow in the nature of Jesus. When we covet the gifts of the Spirit, let us also desire to be like the Spirit. We will only know God’s will in difficult times if we have been made like Him, the Comforter, during our troubles. If we covet only the gifts without the Giver we will not become like Him (see Mt 7:21-23). He seeks to complete us through all His gifts, and by His very nature living in us. Amen.