Don’t Pressure Believers: Understanding How the Holy Spirit Works

Here's a tricky-ish concept to wrap your mind around, and I'm going to bet a few have never end thought of this one.

First, this comes from the fact that I have read and witnessed my encounters where people (who are Christian) say to another person that IF they have the Holy Spirit in them, they'll basically "just know" that what they are saying/writing is correct.

Yeah, that's not how it works, and it's also pretty crummy to say that to a Christian in the first place, because you are insulting their journey and also trying to get in the way of God's timing for them.

See, I've read a lot of stuff and listened to a lot of people in my day.

Sometimes I get a definitive "Yes!" from the Holy Spirit, other times, actually a lot of the time, I get a "Nope! Hold up," I want you to really look into that and test the spirit here.

So that's what I do, I go in and look at the Biblical foundation of what I've just read, or heard. Then about half of the time that turns out to be hogwash, but the other half turns out to be Biblically sound, and we're good to go.

So why did the Holy Spirit put the brakes on when the information was sound? 

That's the root of this article. 

Why would He do that?

Because:

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God," 1 John 4:1–2

And:

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," 2 Timothy 3:16

See here's the thing to think about - Everybody who was anyone tested God like no tomorrow in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the Pharisees and Sadducees tested Jesus, and we all know how that story went.

So why wouldn't we test the Holy Spirit? We are actually instructed to do so.

"This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God"

If we relied on the Holy Spirit to answer every yes or no situation without any elbow grease put in there, then what is the point? We'd never grow, we'd never learn, we'd never recognize.

We need to be aware of this and allow readers to apply this to us when we write or speak to people about God or on a specific topic, most especially a heavy or complex one, because we are human and make mistakes.

Just because we are believers and most of us are well-studied doesn't mean squat to a stranger, and honestly, it shouldn't. 

Because they may not be ready to learn that topic yet, or God wants them focusing on something else, or it's way above their head because there's terminology and complexities in there that gave them a migraine, and they're not quite there yet. 

But.

Going to another person and saying or writing that if they don't understand, believe, or feel hesitant about what you are saying, is now very obviously quite rude, to them and to God.

Stop telling people that IF they had God, they'd believe what you are saying or reading, because that's one sure-fire way to lose a believer who may be new or struggling.

We are not all in the same place of understanding and knowledge, so how about we let the Holy Spirit do its job and lay off the guilt trips?

© Jane Isley

Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider supporting my work. Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me.

You can visit me at Faithful Writers on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on Tumblr and Facebook.