IBS-Lesson Learned?

July 25th 2011

Acts 7:55

"But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,"

Yes, Inductive Bible Study. My favorite class of the day. Excitedly I sat down to write my thoughts on this new verse. I glanced at the words before me, and began typing. I paused. The words I had written were not what my thoughts were. I back-spaced until the only thing left was a blinking cursor. This was repeated multiple times as my frustration grew. I knew what I wanted to write but I couldn't form the right words. With a sigh I tried again, but to no avail, all that remained: a blinking cursor. It seemed to be taunting me. 

"Minutes!" called Pastor G, announcing we should be done with our interpretations of the verse and starting on the application. Still I had absolutely nothing. Thoughts onto paper had always been a breeze for me, and all of the sudden this simple verse was leaving me blank? I didn't get it. God, why can't I think of something? Why can't I get my thoughts into words? Give me something to work with, I demanded.

"Okay, gather around," Pastor G again. Crud. still nothing. I couldn't sit in the circle without anything to share.. I hurriedly typed: "Looking to God in times of trial, and actually seeking His face is probably not the initial reaction that we undergo as humans. Stephen's faith was strong. He wanted to glorify God in all that he was, and when he was faced with a "courtroom" filled with a livid council, who all despised his words, he immediately looked to God. And he saw His face-" I glanced up: everyone else was already seated in the circle. I walked over to sit among my peers, fighting back the shame I knew would burn my cheeks when I explained to them I had nothing to share.

Tanner shared first. Simple but good. The Holy Spirit was truly revealed through his writing. When he was done, he humbly stated, "I actually prayed before this one. I decided, that instead of making myself sound good, I just wanted to let the Holy Spirit speak through me." 

Ooh.. Ouch, Shaylene. Slap in the face. That was it. I hadn't prayed before I began. I had been so caught up in writing so Shaylene got the glory for her brilliant ideas that I hadn't even asked the Holy Spirit for discernment and guidance. Instead I had demanded that God give me the words I sought. Ironic situation this one was. I wanted to write about how Stephen looked to God for guidance in his trial, which doesn't seem to be a normal reaction for people today. And there I was: proving that hypothesis to be true. 

Needless to say, my application is to seek the Holy Spirit to guide me when I am trying to interpret God's word. I need to practice what I preach, so I don't have to turn the other cheek to await another "hand to face" connection. A very valuable lesson from the Holy Spirit himself.