Compelled by the Spirit

“I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus. But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.”  (Acts 20:21-24)

The Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us. We are children of God because of this Spirit that lives in each of us. We are commissioned to do the same work that Paul was commissioned to do, bear witness to the Gospel. Am I compelled by the Spirit? Do I allow the Spirit to move in me or do I impede his work? Am I led by my selfish desires or do I put aside my pride and say, “Here I am Lord”? Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit has been warning him that hardships and imprisonment await him, yet he continues to do what he is called to do. As disciples of Christ, we too face hardships because of our faith. But the Holy Spirit will remain with us. Christ didn’t leave us alone when he ascended into heaven. He is present in our lives each and every moment through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks to us and we read in Romans, that the Spirit intercedes for us.

“The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” (Romans 8:26)

We are nothing on our own so we shouldn’t try to do things on our own. All that is good comes from God. We fall into sin when we try to go it alone. I went to confession the other day and spoke to the priest about how I struggle so much with a particular sin and he reminded me of this very thing. He reminded me that I will never be able to overcome this sin, or any other sin, on my own. We need to call on the Holy Spirit during times of temptation and ask him to pour down his grace upon us. We need to make room for the Holy Spirit in our lives because it is in him that we live and breathe and have our being. We are able to live our life according to God’s plan when we are compelled by the Spirit.