Making Space For The Spirit of God

John 16:12-15

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.16 “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”

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A few years ago, I went through a really horrible situation. I kept thinking I had hit rock bottom, and then I would find that I could, in fact, fall even lower. If I had seen the whole story at once, all the trips and stumbles it would take for me to be whole again, I would probably have given up. Instead, I could only look at what was right in front of me— one day at a time.

Jesus knew that sometimes the whole story is too big, scary, and complex to tell at once. This passage from John comes from the account of the “last supper.” Jesus tells his friends that the truth he has told them so far is radically incomplete. As Martin Smith writes, “They are incapable of taking in any more until his death, resurrection, and ascension have opened up a totally new relationship with God.”

With the Spirit’s help, the truth of God’s love and Jesus’ resurrection will continually be revealed to the disciples and to us. As our lives continually change, we will continually be moved into a deeper relationship with Christ. And we will hear what we need to hear, even if it’s not the whole story.

• How do you make space to listen to the Spirit in your life?