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Hi friend ☀︎
Pentecost was yesterday and Memorial Day is today and I'm coming in hot with this one a day late. But fortunately for us all, the Holy Spirit doesn't operate on a beehiiv schedule, so let's just call it Pentecost pt 2 and keep it pushing.
If you're new here, last week we caught up on what Pentecost actually is. (You can catch up here if you missed that.) Yesterday was the day: exactly 50 days after Easter, it’s the anniversary of the moment the Holy Spirit moved from "with God" to inhabiting ordinary people for good.
So this week, we're getting into what the Holy Spirit actually does in regular ‘ol Monday-through-Saturday life. And He's the quietest member of the Trinity by design.
the quietest Person in the Trinity
God the Father has a voice you can hear from a mountain, and Jesus walked around Earth for 33 years with a face, a name, and a list of recorded conversations. But the Holy Spirit shows up as wind. as fire. as a breath. as a dove. Things you can feel and see the effects of, but you can't really pin down.
And that's intentional, because the Holy Spirit's whole job description is to point you toward Jesus and the Father and not to draw attention to Himself. Think about the video production in a concert. You're not supposed to walk out of the show thinking "wow, what excellent camera work!" You're supposed to walk out moved by the experience. But you wouldn't have felt the story without the production crew doing their job.
That's the Holy Spirit. He's been all over your life this whole time. You just maybe haven't been looking for Him.
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
Jesus said this to a religious leader named Nicodemus who came to Him in the middle of the night with questions (real). and notice how He doesn't say "the Spirit will give you a five-step plan." He says: He moves like wind, so you won't always see where He's coming from. You'll just see what He's done.
so what does He actually do?
If you sat with last week's practice, you probably already have a list starting in your head. But here's a quick guide to the four things the Holy Spirit is doing in regular Christian life that are easy to miss:
1. He convicts. Not in a guilt-trip, shame-spiral way, but in a gentle nudge way. That moment you knew you needed to apologize or the way a sin you used to brush off suddenly bothers you. The grace to want better for yourself, not just because you're scared, but because something inside you actually shifted. That's Him.
2. He comforts. Jesus literally called Him "the Helper" or the "Comforter" or "Advocate" depending on your translation. He’s the 3am peace you can't logically explain. The verse that hits you at the exact right moment. The way our grief can feel held even when it’s all-consuming.
3. He prays for you when you can't. This will never not be insane to me. Romans 8:26 says when we don't know what to pray, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that our words can't express. You don't have to have the right vocabulary. He's already speaking on your behalf.
4. He shows you Jesus. This is the reason a Bible verse you've read 100 times can suddenly mean something new the 101st time you see it. That's the Spirit illuminating. He's the one reminding you Jesus is still close.
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the cost of a willing room
Last week I said "He doesn't need a clean record. He needs a willing room," and I want to push back on myself a little this week.
A willing room sounds really gentle - like a soft yes.
But the 120 people in that upper room on Pentecost said yes, wholly and completely, to something they didn't fully understand, even as it cost them.
Most of those original disciples eventually died for what happened in that room. Peter was eventually crucified upside down. Thomas was killed in India. Most of them were martyred. They said yes to the Spirit and it proceeded to rearrange their entire lives.
I don't say that to scare you. I say it because we live in a culture that's really good at posting ~Holy Spirit come~ and not so good at actually clearing space for what will happen when He does.
A willing room means letting Him reorder your priorities. It means letting Him convict you about things you'd rather ignore. It means softening your heart towards the people you'd rather be mad at. It means moving you toward courage. It means hearing no even when you wanted a yes.
Oswald Chambers - a Scottish teacher whose devotional My Utmost for His Highest is one of the most-read Christian books of the 20th century - wrote something about this:
We have to keep ourselves fit to let the life of the Son of God be manifested, and we cannot do that if we give way to self-pity.
The willing room isn't passive. It's an active, daily yes. It's choosing to make space for Him even when the easier thing would be to fill that space with everything else.
how to start (without being weird about it)
If you've underestimated the Holy Spirit your whole life like I have, here's the lowest-stakes way to start building a relationship with Him:
1. Talk to Him directly. You can address the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Try a prayer that just says, "Holy Spirit, I'm listening today." That's it - that's the whole prayer.
2. Pay attention to nudges. When you feel a sudden urge to text someone, pray for someone, leave a situation, stay in a situation, or do a kindness no one would notice, assume that's Him until proven otherwise. He nudges, He doesn't usually shove.
3. Read scripture expecting Him. John 14:26 says the Spirit will teach you all things and remind you of everything Jesus said. Open your Bible and show up expecting Him to illuminate something you need. He will.
4. Stop apologizing for noticing Him. A lot of Christians have a weird internal alarm that goes off when they think something "might've been God." Like we're embarrassed to claim spiritual experiences. You also don't have to dismiss every quiet thing as your own imagination. He's real, and you're allowed to notice.
so what now?
Yesterday was the birthday of the Church. 2,000 and however many years ago, 120 regular people said yes to a Spirit they didn't fully understand, and because of their faith, the entire world bent toward Jesus.
You're invited into that same yes. Not with the whole flames and wind and 3,000-person sermon, necessarily. But with the willing room. The quiet yes, and a willing posture: "I'm listening today."
The Holy Spirit has been in your life all along, my friend. This is just a good week to start saying His name.
Exhale ☀︎
this week's practice: Take one of the four nudges from above and look back over the past month with new eyes. Where do you see where He was somewhere you didn't recognize at the time? Write that down. That's your starting evidence of His presence. Build your list from there, and see where He’s been quietly weaving together your story.
honest prayer: Holy Spirit, I want to know You better. Thank You for being patient with me when I treat You like a footnote. Thank You for working in my life even when I didn't have the language to name what was happening. Help me to notice You more, and Help me say yes to the willing room. I want to know You like I know the Father and the Son. In Your Son's name I pray, amen.