Acts 2:1-4 (NASB)
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Pentecost means 50, most notably 50 days after Passover. All the disciples were together in one place I suspect praying as we have seen in passages like [Acts 1:14]. Suddenly, unexpectedly the Holy Spirit moved among them in a profound way. He came in energizing force rapidly spreading across the room. What happened next is the miraculous work of God that makes us the book of Acts.
One day God began moving just as unexpectedly in a Sunday night in South Africa. A servant girl asked if she could sing and pray. Just like God swept in the room at Pentecost, He swept in the room that Sunday evening. Witnesses who were in that meeting said they heard the sound of a distant thunder approaching. As it drew nearer the sound rattled the whole church. This caused other people to start praying out loud. The pastor was unsettled by these sudden outbursts, and rose shouting, "I am your minister sent from God. Silence!" Nobody listened. The congregants continued to cry out for God's forgiveness. The pastor asked the song leader to sing a hymn to quieten the people. Nobody sang but the leader as people kept crying out to God all the more. The pastor lost control of the service. He was not done trying in vain to get control again.
The pastor walked up and down the aisle trying in futilely to silence the people. Finally, a stranger walked up behind the pastor and whispered in his ear, "Be careful what you do, it is the Spirit of God that is at work here." The words had a sobering impact on the pastor who gave into what God was doing and quit trying to control it. 20 people were saved in that service alone.
We like to think we are in control. We make our plans and then work our plans. When God decides to suddenly fill the room with His presence, you can throw all manmade plans out the window. God will have His way. He will bypass us if necessary to do the work He purposes. It is so sad that the pastor was one of the last ones to recognize the move of God that Sunday night that started through that servant girl. God chose to bypass the formally educated and experienced pastor. He used the foolishness of a servant girl to shame the wisdom of the pastor.
We do not want to miss out on God. When He pours His Spirit out suddenly, we want to get in the flow of the Holy Spirit. Much like getting into a canoe and letting the current take us down river, we need to in the same way get into the flow of the Holy Spirit moving among us letting Him take us where He wishes. When you are riding in a canoe downstream you might steer the canoe in between the banks, but you cannot control your direction by trying to reverse course and paddle up stream. That takes a lot of wasted effort to fight a force more powerful than you. It is much wiser and simpler to simply go with the flow.
When the Holy Spirit flows, we need to surrender to His leadership. To hoist our sales to catch His fresh wind. In such times, orders of worship are often scrapped. Sixty-minute detailed worship plans are often extended. Holy Spirit might prompt people to testify, to pray, to sing, to get on their faces before God, to weep, repent of sin, to get saved, and to consecrate their lives. When God moves in this fashion the invitation can become the focal point of the whole service. People may respond to God for an hour or more. Worship intensifies. People do not want to leave the presence of God.
When that happens, may we not be like the pastor foolishly trying to control the Spirit of God. May we surrender to Him and get in His flow. He knows what He is doing far better than any of us.
- Can you think of a time you tried to control the work of God in your life?
- Can you explain what getting in the flow of God's Spirit means?
- God often comes suddenly and unexpectedly. In what ways are you preparing yourself?
- Like the servant girl in South Africa, will you make yourself available for God to use?
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