Hindsight is 20/20

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://encounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

Sporting my pixie haircut in beautiful Colorado, 2012

As I begin to leave my college days behind and start to think about motherhood, the phrase “hindsight is 20/20” comes to mind. For instance, I remember when I decided to get a pixie haircut while working at a summer camp in Colorado—no one ever tells you that a pixie cut is not easier to maintain than simply throwing your hair into a ponytail. It was the summer of hat-hair, bobby pins, and desperate attempts to speed-up hair growth, but at least I made it to the top of a mountain. On a more serious note, I often look back on my first two years in college and how I spent many of my nights and weekends. It’s so much easier to see the negative effects that those decisions had on my life now, rather than when I was living in those moments. Hindsight is 20/20.

This makes me wonder if the disciples ever had similar thoughts about their journey with Jesus. Did Matthew ever look back on the day when Jesus approached him at the tax collector’s booth and said, “Follow me” (Matthew 9:9) and think, “Wow. I cannot believe how much things have changed…” Or, did the disciples look back on their last supper with Jesus and realize that it was then that He had promised the sending of the Holy Spirit?

In John 14:16-17 Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

These words of encouragement from Jesus demonstrate the relationship between the trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Son Jesus to save the world and the Father also sent another advocate (the Holy Spirit) to be with us forever and continue the life-changing work of Jesus.

John 16:7 says, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

It is difficult to understand that it is better for us to have the Holy Spirit living in our hearts than it would be to have the Son of Man walking besides us in the flesh. But, because it is written in the Word, we believe that it is true and invite the Holy Spirit to bring the transformative power of God into our lives. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Helper, and Advocate—He brings life into our weary souls, picks us up when we have fallen down, and fights on our behalf. These qualities are easy to simply write on paper and believe them to be true, but can we recognize when we have actually experienced the Holy Spirit in our lives?

If we apply the perspective of “hindsight is 20/20” to our spiritual lives, it’s possible that we could recognize the power of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts. Take a moment to truly invite the Holy Spirit into your heart and allow you to see His power throughout your life. Rather than being satisfied with seeing how God has shown up in our past, I suggest that we ask the Holy Spirit to be present in our daily lives. When this happens, when we can feel His power moving in our hearts daily, we truly will display the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

A life lived in obedience to the Holy Spirit’s influence on our hearts can have a significant impact on sharing the Gospel and God’s grace with others. When we are transformed by the Holy Spirit and display fruit of this transformation, it is an amazing testimony to the love of God. Let’s pray relentlessly to the Holy Spirit that we might be changed—that we might be able to fly and fully live in obedience to God’s call for our lives.

For a song reflecting on this week’s message, check out Beautiful Things by Gungor. It is one of my favorites!

[Megan Stephenson is a recent graduate of Grand Valley State University and works for a private education group in Grand Rapids as an Assistant Registrar. She loves spending time with her husband, Ben, trying out new breweries, restaurants, and local attractions. She also self-identifies as a crazy cat lady, despite owning no cats of her own, thanks to her loving and allergic husband.]