Sep 29
There’s a lot of discussion about the various manifestations of the Spirit, including all the talk about spiritual gifts, miracles, Presence, power, peace, and so on. I’ve not heard a lot about what I think is the most vital aspect of the work of the Spirit in this world — Timing. The Spirit is all about timing, and when the Spirit is doing a work and people are tapping into this… curious events related to this timing tend to take place.
It’s not about the visible miracles or writing on the wall. It’s about the timing. It’s a rhythm we can participate, if we learn to listen and respond to the beat.
September 30th, 2005 at 8:58 am
Perhaps it is even more about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (cf Gal 5:22). A writer I enjoy recently pointed out that we at times focus so much on the gifts of the Spirit, especially as you mentioned the more eye-catching ones, that we forget about the fruit. Kind of reminds me of that rather irreverent bumper sticker: “God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.” 😉
September 30th, 2005 at 9:01 am
Of course it’s about the fruit… but the fruits of the Spirit become especially potent when there’s a spiritual reaction to timing. For example, coming up with exactly the right encouragement when someone is feeling particularly down, even when you didn’t know the person was feeling particularly down. The gifts of the Spirit reveal the fruits of the Spirit in the moments of the Spirit’s peculiar sense of timing, and when we can leap into that it is like riding a wave of fruitfulness.