One day as summer was approaching a couple of years ago, I made a mistake. I don’t mean the kind of mistake where you’ve done something wrong and now you’ve got to face a consequence, because it wasn’t like that. No, this is one of those mistakes any seriously spiritual person, honestly seeking after God, will eventually make—and we make it because we are either ignorant or naïve. I think I was a little bit of both, with a dash of the old Janzen arrogance thrown in for good measure. Looking back now, I realize that Jesus wanted me to make the mistake, and thus did little to warn me…sigh…such is love.
The tale begins in a church—as such things ought to—where I sat enjoying the teaching of one of my favourite prophetic teachers. It was Jon Paul Jackson for those who must know, though what he said at the time has little to do with my story. I was minding my own business, paying attention, when Holy Spirit rudely interrupted. He brought to mind a frustration that had been growing in me for quite a while and seemed to pour a little extra energy into it. I sat there squirming in my seat trying to ignore him, but as you can imagine that only made things worse. He began to speak. I’ll reproduce the conversation below…the Holy Spirit will be in Italics and I will be in normal:
“What is that frustration you’ve been feeling in your spirit?”
“You know what it is, Lord.”
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Thank you Karin. I, in turn, was very encouraged by your comment.
Posted by: eric h janzen | August 30, 2013 at 12:20 AM
Your honest sharing is a HUGE encouragement to me. Thank you. How I long for this sort of honesty from believers. How I long to be this honest with others. You have blessed me this morning.
Posted by: Karin | August 29, 2013 at 06:12 AM