I can recognize that my response to someone was wrong and still want to explain why it was understandable. They shouldn’t have done what they did. Something really does need to change. But their actions do not excuse mine.
That was one of the things Mabel Francis brought me back to in Filled With the Spirit…Then What? I can become so focused on what needs to change around me that I miss what God wants to change in me.
What happens after a spiritual experience?
Francis writes about the ongoing surrender that follows being filled with the Holy Spirit. Christians understand the Holy Spirit as God present and at work in their lives. Being filled with the Spirit describes receiving and depending on his presence and power to live as a follower of Jesus. Christian traditions explain the timing and experience of this differently, but Francis is concerned with what follows in everyday life.
She shares how pride, impatience, and self-centeredness still needed to be dealt with, even after she had experienced the fullness of the Spirit. Being filled does not mean we suddenly have no more growing to do.
We still have to choose to surrender as the Holy Spirit reveals what in us needs to change. Surrender here means willingly responding to God, including admitting when we are wrong and depending on him to help us respond differently. It takes place in ordinary situations.
What is God doing now?
One question Francis learned to ask stayed with me: “What is God doing now?” She describes learning to ask what God was teaching her through a particular situation, rather than focusing only on why it had happened.
I want to spend more time asking that. It’s easy to get caught up in understanding why something happened or figuring out what needs to happen next. I can miss what God is teaching me while I’m still waiting for the situation to change.
When I start making excuses
Francis also spoke about getting angry with someone and then justifying it because they shouldn’t have done what they did. I recognize that response. I can know I was wrong and still want to defend myself.
Their actions do not excuse mine. Something may need to be addressed with that person, but I also need to surrender something in myself. I still need to have difficult conversations and take responsibility. I want the Holy Spirit to shape how I do that.
Serving from what God is doing in me
This book reminded me to pay attention to what my reactions reveal about my own heart. In ministry, I always have needs to respond to, problems to solve, and different opinions to work through. Those things need attention, but so does the person I am becoming as I deal with them.
I want to recognize more quickly when I am defending my pride or making excuses for impatience. I also want to ask what God is teaching me before I jump straight into resolving the situation.
This reminded me of something I already believe but need to keep practicing. I need the Holy Spirit working in my life, and only from the overflow of his filling can I effectively serve and lead others. By overflow, I mean that what God is doing in me should shape what I offer to others.
Different Christian understandings
Francis writes from the Christian and Missionary Alliance’s tradition of surrender to Christ and dependence on the Spirit. Many Christians emphasize repeated filling throughout life; Pentecostal traditions commonly distinguish an empowering baptism in the Spirit from the Spirit’s work when someone first becomes a Christian. These differences affect how readers understand spiritual experiences. Explore the main views and their biblical arguments.
Book discussed
R. Mabel Francis, Filled With the Spirit…Then What? For a related reflection on character and daily dependence on God, read The Crisis of the Deeper Life. My reflection on Wholly Sanctified considers the same invitation to trust Jesus with the whole of life.
A question in the margin is a good place to begin.