Most of us find it fairly easy to understand God the Father.
From the time we are children, we learn the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father in heaven…” We instinctively understand the picture of a father. He is the One who gives identity, protection, provision, guidance and love. Much of what we long for from an earthly parent points us toward our heavenly Father.
Jesus is familiar to us too.
As children, we hear His stories, learn His miracles, memorize verses about Him, and grow up with parables and the Gospel. We know His teachings, His compassion, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. We know that through Him we receive salvation.
But then something changes.
As believers, we are told, “Be led by the Holy Spirit.” “Listen to the Holy Spirit.” “Walk with the Holy Spirit.” We are told that Jesus returned to the Father, but He did not leave us alone. Instead, He gave us the Holy Spirit to live with us and in us.
Yet many of us (quietly) wonder…
Where does the Holy Spirit fit into the picture?
Unlike the Father and the Son, many of us received very little teaching about Him while growing up. We were taught the Bible stories. We learned about Jesus, salvation, forgiveness, and heaven. But the Holy Spirit often remained a mystery.
Then we turn the page from the Gospels into Acts.
Jesus ascends into heaven, promises that the Helper is coming… and suddenly everything changes.
Fire.
A rushing mighty wind.
People speaking in other languages.
Miracles.
Boldness.
Healing.
Power.
Thousands coming to faith.
It’s almost as if we stepped into an entirely different world.
How do we connect the gentle Jesus of the Gospels with the powerful move of the Holy Spirit in Acts? Who is the Holy Spirit? What does He actually do? And how are we supposed to know Him — not just know about Him?
I also did not grow up knowing about the Holy Spirit. And after I got baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, it was quite an uncertain and stressful realization that I need to get to know the Fearsome One of the Trinity that can cause terrifying natural incidents and the most extraordinary miracles and healing. Especially when I wanted my own miracle in the form of a baby but had no idea Who this Person is I am now supposed to “walk with”.
I have done good background of the Bible, found some way I could relate to the Holy Spirit, but He never felt real to me in the same sense as God the Father, which I can recognize anywhere, or as human as Jesus. I understood the Sevenfold Spirit of God [Isaiah 11:2 NLT], especially the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. I have a huge respect for the role and work of the Holy Spirit, even when I didn’t understand it. But for me to have this relationship, I had to get to know the Holy Spirit and find out where He fit into my life and faith. He gave me lots of grace, to get to know Him, to get to recognize His voice, and how to know when it is Him guiding me. But this was not an automatic download from heaven. It was a systematic process over years to investigate and experiment for myself.
So, with the utmost sensitivity, I want to invite you into Proverbs 8. I know this Chapter is normally used in the context of Jesus or God’s power and wisdom. But today I want to invite you to go and read it again, but in the context that “Wisdom” mentioned here, is the Holy Spirit. As it was my personal revelation in my quiet time, I do not make any theological claims about Proverbs 8. All I say, is that if the Holy Spirit is also called or referred to or mention together as the Spirit of Wisdom in the Bible [Exodus 28:3, Exodus 31:3, Deut. 34:9, Daniel 5:11, 14 and Isaiah 11:2. Eph. 1:17, 1 Corinthians 2:10-13, Acts 6:3 and Acts 6:10 NIV & NLT].
Reading Proverbs 8 from beginning to end, might begin to de-mystify the Person Who is the Holy Spirit to you, as it did to me. In that particular Chapter, I have found the Holy Spirit’s Personhood, His character, his role in my life and the part He plays in the Trinity as well as in Creation. I have been the recipient of many miracles through this journey to get to know Him, amazing biological and supernatural things that left me in awe of His power and His love for me.
Yes, even in Proverbs 8, you will read that the Holy Spirit loves you too, just like Jesus and the Father [Proverbs 8:17 NIV] .
The Holy Spirit was delighted with the Father and Jesus at the Creation of the world and you, mankind [Proverbs 8:30-31].
The Holy Spirit wasn’t an afterthought that appeared in Acts. He was there in the very beginning. He was present at creation. He knows the Father. He knows the Son. He has always been part of God’s work.
If I can trust the Father with my identity, and I can trust Jesus with my salvation, then I can also trust the Holy Spirit with my daily walk.
I don’t have to understand everything about Him before I begin walking with Him.
I simply need to recognize that He is real, that He is present, and that Jesus gave Him to us for a reason.