The Helper

Ah, the good ole Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One of the most simple, yet confusing things in the Christian faith. The Trinity is an awesome yet confusing concept to think of, and there is some deep theology that I could get in to revolving around the trinity, but instead I’m going to try to keep it simple. My goal is to convince you that that my opinion on the Holy Spirit is true, but my more important goal is to encourage and/or challenge you. So...here I go. When it comes to the trinity, we talk a whole lot about God the Father, and Jesus (God’s Son), yet fail to recognize the importance of the Holy Spirit. This is something I am very passionate about. So, if you haven’t gotten the message; my opinion on the trinity, is that the Holy Spirit is overlooked way too much and way too often. When we read the Bible, whether in Bible class, church, or during our own time spent with the Lord, we often read much of God, and Jesus. In fact, the words “God” and “Jesus” are mentioned way more than the “Holy Spirit” in the Bible. My point in this is not to lessen God and Jesus, but to remind those who need reminded that the Holy Spirit is just as important to us. Let’s start off with the best passage to explain the thought behind my opinion. In John 16 verse 7, Jesus states, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (ESV). Jesus says Himself, that we are better off with the Holy Spirit than with Jesus. What?! Imagine living and walking and talking with Jesus everyday. Don’t you think you would act a little different, and a little more holy? Same with me! But if Jesus said that we’re better off with the Holy Spirit inside of us, as crazy to think as it is, it’s truth. The Holy Spirit does a number of works in and through us, but my favorite would have to be this...in Romans 8. Verse 26 of Romans 8 states, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (ESV). There have been moments in my life where I feel so broken, that I don’t know what to say. There was one time that I just felt the need to pray. I got on my knees and tried to pray. I couldn’t. I started to cry, and was literally unable to think of the words to say. About 5 minutes later, I couldn’t stop smiling. I didn’t know exactly what happened, but my soul felt at ease. I felt loved, and I truly believe that the Holy Spirit was praying for me. I got to a point where my prayers were too deep for words, so much so that the Holy Spirit interceded and prayed for me. How neat is it that God prays to Himself for us, when we can’t? I mean, talk about total depravity lol. It’s so crazy to think about His grace. His grace so deep that He prays for us when we cannot do so ourselves. I feel like the Holy Spirit doesn’t get the recognition It deserves. Like, the Holy Spirit is God, yet it fails to be treated like Him. Maybe you can start to focus on our Helper. Maybe next time you pray, thank God for the Holy Spirit, and the opportunity to have Him inside of you, always ready to intervene when needed. Ultimately, they are all of equal importance, and are all one, but if Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit is worth more to us than Jesus in flesh is, then maybe we should put just a bit more focus on that. Who is the Holy Spirit to you? Is He just a name used for Jesus inside of us? Or is He lifted up and appreciated at the extent of God and Jesus?

-Jack Hilsher