Stifled

 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.  I Thessalonians 5:19....."Are you remaining loyal to the Son of God in the things which beset His Life in you?"  Oswald Chambers

This Scripture and the quote from Chambers have particular relevance to me today, and in a very unexpected way and from an unexpected source. I'll explain:

I normally write these devotionals the day before I send them out. That means that todays would have been written yesterday, which was Sunday. I had every intention of doing so. However, I first wanted to "enjoy" watching my team, the Steelers, play that day. I figured that there would be plenty of time afterward to delve into the "spiritual realm" after I'd indulged myself in the temporal. Let me say that I didn't enjoy my experience. My team played horribly and lost, and in the most frustrating manner. Now I had thought I'd put getting frustrated over what is really insignificant well behind me. This game revealed that I hadn't, and this is where what I write today comes in.

After the game, I set my attention on seeking out what He would have me write, something I always do. What I found instead was that spiritually speaking, His Spirit wasn't flowing to me or through me. It wasn't that I was fuming with anger, or suffering some great level of frustration. It was simply that I had invested so much of my energy and focus on something that had neither spiritual or eternal significance. My attention was well away from Him, and as a result, I'd stifled His Spirit. I had put up an obstacle between His presence and my heart and mind. It wasn't intentional, but it had happened. A dullness had come into my spirit and along with it, a dullness towards His voice. I looked over many treasured Scriptures, quotes, and thoughts. I wasn't hearing His voice in them and my heart wasn't being warmed. I had not lost Him, and I had not gone against Him. I'd just taken my eyes off of Him for a moment, and with them, my heart as well. I had stifled His Spirit, or as another version reads, I'd quenched it. It wasn't until reading this morning's devotion from Chambers that my heart really responded to what he was saying. I had allowed something of little value to push He who is of the greatest value out of my spiritual vision and focus. When I read that, I confessed it to Him, received His forgiveness, and my spiritual edge was restored. This writing is the result.

In this life, there are an infinite number of ways we can knowingly and unknowingly stifle and quench the flow of His Holy Spirit to and through us. There are so many things, anxieties, stresses, activities, ministries, even those which we enjoy, that can so get our attention and focus that we lose our focus on Him. What the Bible calls "leanness" enters our souls. That happened to me yesterday. Where does it happen for you? Where is it happening now? 

Chambers asks where our loyalty to Him wavering? We may answer that we have not been disloyal at all, but the truth of it is that wherever we allow something else to push Him out, that something else takes His place, even if it is but for a moment. In that moment or moments, leanness will enter our souls, and our sense of Him, His Presence, and His Life will diminish. If left unchecked, such a state will become acceptable to us, and eventually, we can suffer what Paul called "shipwreck to our souls."

I share this today in the hope that all of us will realize how easily we can thrust Him aside, and the possible long term consequences of it becoming our spiritual lifestyle. May our spiritual "edge" remain sharp because our hearts are always undergoing the shaping that comes from His hands being constantly upon us.

Blessings,
Pastor O