“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the
Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own
but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
John 16:12–13
During the Last Supper, Jesus made a sweeping prediction most of us have never accepted at face value; namely, “He [the Holy Spirit] will guide you into all truth.” Imagine!
For years I embraced a limited view of that statement, even though Jesus specifically used the word “all.” I felt He was referring only to the truth of Scripture. That certainly would be included in the category of “the truth,” but is it limited to that?
If one of the Spirit’s tasks is to guide us into and disclose the truth, who says that means only the truth of Scripture? Why couldn’t it include the truth of His will? Or the truth about another person? Or the truth regarding both sides of a tough decision? Why couldn’t those things be a part of “what is to come,” which He promised “to disclose” to you and me?
Haven’t you struggled with a decision? The more you wrestled, the greater the struggle. In the beginning you felt as if you were standing in a thick, dark cloud. Then, gradually, the fog lifted, and you could see your way through. I am suggesting that such can be traced to the Spirit’s work of revealing.
I can think of several surprising moments when I have been the recipient of the Spirit’s disclosures.
- Biblical insights I would otherwise have missed.
- A sudden awareness of God’s will or the presence of danger or a sense of peace in the midst of chaos.
- A surge of bold confidence in a setting where there would otherwise have been fear and hesitation.
- A quiet, calm awareness that I was not alone, even though no one else was actually with me.
- The undeniable, surrounding awareness of evil even the dark sinister presence of demonic forces.
You may be able to add to that list. I am convinced the Spirit, who surprises, guides us during such moments of truth and with surgical precision reveals the statement that needs to be said and heard.
Taken from Flying Closer to the Flame by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1993 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Deepen your intimacy with the living God by reading Embraced by the Spirit, an updated release of Flying Closer to the Flame.
