I've been meaning to write this post for about a week now, but never got around to it. Now I'm finally doing it. The past few weeks at Intervarsity we talked about the Holy Spirit. It was a great topic and now I really want to read The Forgotten God by Frances Chan, but will probably wait until this summer to read it.
Last Wednesday as the ending of the series we got into small groups to just sit and listen to what the Holy Spirit had to say to each person in the group. We focused on one person at a time and just listened for 5 minutes or so and then shared with that person anything that we heard, saw, etc. I normally don't like activities like this because I'm not very good at turning off my brain and actually listening to what the Holy Spirit has to say to me. I really tried to focus though and since it was only 5 minutes I decided I could do it.
The first thing that I found so refreshing was that I came late so I didn't sit by my usual group of people and therefore I wasn't in a group with them. The group that I was with though, was really great because we each seemed to be in a similar place in our lives and I think everything that we heard for each other also related to ourselves. I was also really excited to actually hear some things and to allow myself to listen to what the Holy Spirit wanted to say to the others in my group.
The first person that shared what they heard was to be bold. At first I was really confused by this and didn't exactly know what they meant. Then the other 2 shared and said they heard something about building bridges, and also related to DG and how I know so much about these women and we share so much. We then all talked about this for awhile and it made perfect sense and was also very encouraging to me.
I've spent so much of my semester so far feeling really down and like all of my worth was in my school work and just super nervous about the whole semester. Encouragement in that area of my life was what I expected to hear from the Holy Spirit. Instead the things that I got were about how I need to step out and be bold and really be there for my sisters. I need to continue to love my sisters and show them what Christ's love is. I don't need to shove the gospel down their throats, but instead through my actions spread that love. When words or conversations are needed or come up though I need to be bold and say what I'm really thinking. I really felt encouraged by this. It also made me really think about how I really only have these last few months with my sisters and living with all of them. I'll still have school next year. These relationships that I'm building now will be very important. The goal also isn't to convert everyone to Christianity instead it is to show all of my sisters who God is. Even if they don't accept Him now they will know that I really value my faith and later in life if they need someone to talk to I will be there. I really hope that this will be evident for the rest of the semester.
Also doing this activity showed me again how important it is to sometimes just be silent and listen for what God wants me to hear. At the Ash Wednesday service Jon talked about all of the noise in the world. I'm definitely conscious of this noise more recently and want to do a better job of just being silent and seeing what God says even if its only for 5 or 10 minutes a couple of times a week.
This is beautiful Emily. I'm reading a book right now called "The Soul of the Apostolate" and this really resonates with the section I read last night. It's a little intense, but in it there was a quote from St. Theresa that really struck me. "If you do not practice mental prayer, you don't need any devil to throw you into hell, you throw yourself in there of your own accord. On the contrary, give me the greatest of all sinners; if he practices mental prayer, be it only for fifteen minutes every day, he will be converted. If he perseveres in it, his eternal salvation is assured." The other beautiful message of this book basically says that through silent mental prayer, we will perform active works through the overflow of his love. I love that you're cutting the social media out of your life to open up silence for God to speak. The peace you find through this mental prayer will be so apparent to our sisters that you will be able to love them more fully through your example. I hope you can keep silencing yourself and listening to what Christ has to say for you and what his plans are for you. Can't wait to keep reading throughout lent.
ReplyDelete