One time I was listening to a podcast (Gone Fishing - Metropolitan Bible Church, free on iTunes) and it really spoke to me. Honestly, this doesn't happen often. There are only a handful of times where I can say that the sermon that was preached spoke directly to my life and impacted me so much that I was changed since I heard it. But this one did that. It was so relevant, so honest, so true, cut right through everything that was going on and made its way into my heart.
The content of the sermon isn't necessarily what matters to this story though. What happened after it was finished is the remarkable part.
Just minutes after the podcast finished, my friend called me. I often have a bad attitude towards this friend. They can sometimes rub me the wrong way making me a little rude, not willing to try to make things work and negative. They asked me a question that I had always hated hearing, always responded poorly to. The cool thing was my reaction was uncharacteristic of me. I was totally happy, totally unbothered, totally eager to help and go out of my way to make things work. I wasn't offended or annoyed or anything. I surprised myself, because I had no reason to be any different towards my friend than before, but I was. And I was happy to be - it felt good.
This has been a huge lesson to me. I think that spending time in God's word through someone's sermon, having (I don't want to say letting because I don't know what I did differently than what I do during any other sermon that I listen to), but having the words really have an impact on my life was the work of the Holy Spirit. I think that during that time, I was just renewed and filled with the Spirit, and because I was so full of Him, there was no room for myself left. I couldn't be selfish or angry or irritable, I was just content. It was so blatantly not me, so obviously something pouring out of me.
I long to be filled full of the Spirit that same way everyday. As much as I am a "good person," or so it seems, I am a different person when God is close and He takes over. Somehow, I need to capture this process so that I can ensure I allow God to fill me up everyday before I start my day, so that every action will be inspired by Him, and will inspire life and truth.
Just goes to show that you can't do it on your own, and that the power of the Holy Spirit is... empowering.
