Articles

When Life Feels Empty: Seeing Your Story in Genesis 1 When life feels shapeless and empty, God’s Spirit hasn’t gone anywhere. He is close, gently hovering, ready to bring order to what’s broken, fill what feels hollow, and lead you into His good purposes as you trust Jesus and walk with Him one day at a time. Genesis begins with a vivid scene: “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Many of us can relate to that. Sometimes life feels chaotic, unorganized, or deeply empty. You wake up and quietly wonder, “Is this all there is? Is anything in my life really taking shape?”

The Promised Holy Spirit and God’s Promise Not to Leave Us The promised Holy Spirit is God’s way of keeping His promise never to leave His people alone. Jesus assured His disciples that the Father would send the Spirit so that God’s presence would no longer feel “back then and over there,” but “here and now, right with you and living in you.” In the book of Numbers, we see God leading Israel through the wilderness, like a steady guide, with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Whenever the ark of the covenant set out, Moses would pray, “Rise up, Lord!” and when it came to rest, he would pray, “Return, Lord.” That simple rhythm shows how deeply they relied on God being close. Their sense of safety wasn’t in having easy circumstances, but in trusting a faithful God who walked with them every step of the way. There is a clear line from that wilderness journey to the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Pentecost - What’s it all about? I remember my first step. Pentecost: My First Step Okay, here’s the scene: I was the lone clergyman in a rather large New England church. I had spent two years at the post. I was fixing coffee and hard-boiled eggs for our monthly clergy meeting, which was for priests from local churches. You need to know that the eggs symbolized these meetings, which were usually filled with hard-boiled and stale arguments about high and low churchmanship. I heard the speaker mention the Holy Spirit. Seriously, I thought, I spent three years studying in seminary and two years as a curate in this New England church. Why had I not heard of this Holy Spirit before now?