**Sip Saturday is written by our Saturday morning contributor, M.H. Elrich. A beautifully gifted Christian author who seeks to honor the Trinity in her writing. She hopes that her words will encourage women to draw closer to God, whether that is through her fantasy series or her weekly devotionals.
Cornerstone Scripture:
“Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, ‘Today if ye will hear his voice…’”
-Hebrews 3:7 KJV
“This is crazy,” I mumbled to myself as I parked my car in the lot. “Watch, she won’t even be working today.”
My friend had been experiencing depression and overwhelming anxiety regarding her work. As someone who had experienced a toxic work environment myself, I understood all too well how it felt.
At the time, I didn’t know how I would escape that situation, but I was undergoing a fast to ask God for guidance on what to do next. As part of the fast, I was studying a book called The Helper by Catherine Marshall.
If you’ve never read this magnificent book, you should. Basically, it explores the role of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life. In order to attune myself more fully to the Spirit’s voice and hear him more clearly, my friend suggested that I undergo a fast.
I ended up doing an eighty day fast, with forty days without processed sugars and forty days without caffeine. It was hard, but it was also delightful. I felt closer to the Lord more than ever, and for the first time, I felt his prompting.
One of his promptings was to visit my friend at work and offer her words of encouragement. Of course, I thought I was going crazy. After all, is it really wise to visit a place that was known to be hostile and misuse my friend?
Yet, I obeyed.
I went to the secretary at the front desk and asked if I could see my friend. By the Holy Spirit’s intervention, it was near her lunch time. She was able to take me to a private room where we could talk freely.
She was having a rather rough day and was grateful to see me. Tearfully, we encouraged and prayed for one another. Although our situations would not change for some time, we knew that the Holy Spirit was working through me to reach her.
I’ve often wondered: what if I ignored the Holy Spirit’s voice? Would my friend have lost hope? Or would we have grown distant?
I’ll never know, but I’m grateful that I obeyed His voice. This verse encourages similar actions from believers. Will you listen and obey his voice, too?
I hope so.
Let’s pray.
Lord, help me to hear your voice and obey it, even if it sounds a little crazy. Let me be guided by your Holy Spirit and your Word. In Your Son’s Name, Amen.
Beautiful reminder about the Holy Spirit's quiet promtings. The detail about visiting a hostile workplace captures something rly important, that obedience often means stepping into uncomfortable situations precisely when logic says to avoid them. I've had similar moments where a nudge to reach out felt inconvienient or awkward, and later realized the timing was perfect for the other person even if I couldn't see it at first.