You Cannot Remain Passive

We continue our study of Saul’s life, exploring the principles that emerge from his experience and help us better understand how to walk in the filling of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

We have seen some of the instructions the prophet Samuel gives Saul on the way to his filling and his endowment with power. And in the last meditation, we saw that Samuel tells Saul that when the Spirit of God comes upon him with power, he will prophesy with the other prophets and be changed—that is, transformed into another man. We spoke about the experience of transformation that takes place in the believer’s life through the infusion and the active, powerful, dynamic filling of the Holy Spirit.

Another thing Samuel tells Saul is, in verse 7 of First Samuel chapter 10: “And when these signs have happened to you”—interesting, signs; that is, we all need evidence that what we have asked the Lord for has indeed taken place. And Samuel wanted to strengthen Saul’s faith by showing him these things in advance, so that as Saul saw them, his faith would grow.

But what interests me most here is that, when Saul saw these things as a sign that God was endowing him with power, Samuel says: “Then do whatever comes to your hand, for God is with you.” That is an example of what should happen in the life of every believer who receives the filling of the Holy Spirit.

When the Spirit of God has descended upon us, when we have been in a setting where hands have been laid on us and by faith we have taken in and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and we have begun to give glory and thanks to God for what He has done in our lives by faith—because often we will not necessarily feel anything on an emotional level, but the Holy Spirit is received by faith—then we open our mouths, begin to speak in tongues as God gives us utterance, begin to praise the Lord, raise our hands, thank God for what He has done, and prophesy by faith as a sign of what God has done in our lives.

So he says that what we must do is whatever comes to our hand and believe that God is with us. To me, that is one of the most powerful teachings about a life filled with the Holy Spirit. At some point, we have to move from receiving a visitation of the Holy Spirit to a life of works, in faith based on what God has done in us.

When we receive that anointing from God, we must believe that God is then with us and seize any opportunity that comes to hand—in our work, our family life, our friendships with others, in the Church. We must begin to use the gift of God that is within us. Whatever comes to our hand, we must do it.

If we can begin to serve in a humble position in the Church, let us go forward believing that the Lord is with us and that, as we put that Power of God to work, that power will grow and increase in us. That is what Paul told Timothy, again, when he instructed him: fan into flame the gift of God that is already in you. When the fire of God’s gift is already in you, then you have to put it to use; you have to do whatever comes to your hand. You have to live a life of service to the Lord; you have to begin to bear fruit in your Christian life. You cannot remain passive; instead, you have to begin, by faith, to use the Power of God that is within you.

The only way for the Spirit of God, who has now visited and filled us, to begin to manifest Himself and to fill up is through action, and that part is up to us. Many Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit but simply seem to be waiting for God to start moving their hands, or for an angel to appear to them and start giving them supernatural instructions. What God expects, then, is for us to spring into action and begin to seize any opportunity that comes to hand.

For example, in the case of the apostle Peter, when he and his companions are filled with the Holy Spirit, many people gather around them; the Holy Spirit Himself draws them together, and there is curiosity among the people in Jerusalem. And what does Peter do? He seizes the opportunity and begins to explain to them what has happened, giving them a sermon that leads to the conversion of thousands of souls.

If Peter had remained inactive and simply looked at the people, watching what was happening, and had begun to pray or whatever, instead of beginning to preach to them, an opportunity for the Power of God to manifest itself through him would have been lost. On the contrary, Peter senses that this is a moment God wants to use, and so he proclaims the Word, and God uses him with power.

Likewise, when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, God will begin to arrange opportunities around you to serve Him, and you must have the eye and the faith to discern God’s call at that moment, and you must spring into action. If you waste that opportunity, you will be grieving the Holy Spirit and will then have to start all over again, because the Spirit of the Lord expects to be obeyed. And when you have the Spirit within you, God expects you to move with great diligence and great authority.

That is why the apostle Paul adds, in that same passage, to Timothy: “I advise you to fan into flame the gift of God that is in you,” and says, “for God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, of love and of self-control.” Paul was telling Timothy: the Spirit you have within you is a spirit of dynamism; it is a spirit that makes you an entrepreneur of the Kingdom, seizing every opportunity that comes to hand to put the Power of God into action and to use the gift, the talent, that God has given you.

Samuel was telling Saul: now, when you have received that power, get into action and seize the opportunities that come your way, because God will bring assignments into your life so that you may do what He wants you to do as the king who is to deliver His people.

May God help us live active and dynamic lives in the Power of the Holy Spirit, always looking around us to detect the works and assignments God will be placing in our path. As we seize them, we will see that the Power of God is there, ready to support us at every moment. God bless you, and until our next meditation.