While reading the scripture this morning, a passage stood out, and I’m wondering how many of us often pass over such verses to quickly because we think it’s just a bridge between ideas. Maybe the Lord has something to say to us this morning that we just might miss as just being filler, when it’s far more than we realize. Here is the verse that caught my attention:
John 16:12
“Oh, there is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.”
This passage is from the message Jesus is sharing with his disciples just before He is arrested and crucified. The context is he is trying to communicate events that will take place in the future, and the importance of the Holy Spirit’s help in our personal lives. He is communicating that with the help of the Holy Spirit we can meet the challenges of each and every day, and without his help, we are unable to handle the load.
Right in the middle of this intimate conversation, He says this passage which almost seems out-of-place, but it’s precisely because the disciples are unable to have the intimacy they desire at this time. Remember Jesus is saying, “You Can’t Handle More”…. maybe we are in the same boat?
Here the thing – I was reading Proverbs 23:23 just before I turned to the book of John, and here is what it says:
“Get the truth and don’t ever sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and discernment”
I’m gripped by the fact that often I can’t handle the wisdom God wants to give me because I’m carrying other things! I’m selling the truth I have for other “Sparkly” things and I’m not growing in wisdom I already have, but needing to learn the same lessons all over again.
I think we come to God and honestly want Him to speak a word of wisdom or knowledge, but fail to realize we can’t handle more things in our soul right now. We are unable to carry another thing.
Making more room in our soul for God to speak is a necessity, not a luxury. In order to receive new information or wisdom we have to unpack something or we would be overloaded. Have you looked around lately and noticed all the stressed out people ….. maybe yourself?
Susan, my wife, has said a number of times in joking with friends, that we all carry baggage from our past, but she thinks I over packed! 😢
What if today you want God to speak to you, but right now your over packed? More than likely, He will be silent until you make some room in your soul for new information or wisdom. Maybe you can’t sense or feel His presence because your soul is so full of feeling other things ….. even worthwhile things!
My prayer this morning is that all of us will unpack our soul and let go of things that are weighing us down in order for the Holy Spirit to speak words of life into our lives. Our soul needs words of life from our Heavenly Father to be healthy and whole.
Pastor Dale
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