12 We haven’t received the world’s spirit but God’s Spirit so that we can know the things given to us by God. 13 These are the things we are talking about—not with words taught by human wisdom but with words taught by the Spirit—we are interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people. 14 But people who are unspiritual don’t accept the things from God’s Spirit. They are foolishness to them and can’t be understood, because they can only be comprehended in a spiritual way. 15 Spiritual people comprehend everything, but they themselves aren’t understood by anyone. 16 Who has known the mind of the Lord, who will advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Reflection
About twelve years ago, in a personal moment of struggle, at an altar in Lancaster, PA, I cried out to God and asked him to save me. I asked for forgiveness and I longed for God to help me overcome my disbelief. Then I paused and let God fill in the space! What came back to me has been indescribable love. As John Wesley would say, my heart was strangely warmed.
Still, to describe that moment, my words fail. My words pale in comparison to a moment of pure grace. The words and feelings that I felt, in return, were and are palpable and alive to me today because I allowed there to be space for our Lord.
This is not to say that I am any more worthy or knowing than any other brother or sister in Christ! Quite the contrary, I am not. Sometimes I am far too busy or foolish to know better. And even though I have been a life-long Methodist, it took until my late forties to begin to really know this two-way relationship. (So I am really just a pre-teen in the eyes of God, LOL.)
But this is to say that by pressing pause and just listening, I could begin to hear what it was that our Lord needed me to hear. I could begin to know God’s Spirit instead of just the human ways of the world. Only then, have I begun this two-way relationship with God as a follower of Jesus Christ. Still there are days that I get things very wrong. But for me, when I have a “mind like Christ” is when I remember to pause and just listen…. So how do you pause to hear God’s Spirit speaking to you?
by Barbara Carlson
For Pondering & Prayer
For today, I choose to pause and just prayerfully listen to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. How do you pause to hear God’s Wisdom for you? How does knowing the path of Christ change your perspective… in moments of struggle AND in moments of well-being?
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please stay with me. Let me pause because I come longing for that two-way relationship, in and through you. Speak to me in a way so that my ears can hear only what it is that you need me to hear. Speak to me so that my heart is quieted by your loving ways. Let me know the message of your wisdom in all that I do. Amen.
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