When I have the bandwidth, I open myself to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit. She is always around, and in my life, she is often a smart aleck.
I know the Holy Spirit is always with me because in the Bible, Jesus tells us so.
John 14:16-17
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees [her] nor knows [her]. You know [her] because [she] abides with you, and [she] will be in you.” (NRSV)
Why do I call the Holy Spirit a woman? Because I know that God created men and women and God is neither. But also, in the Hebrew Bible, (Old Testament), Wisdom is personified as a woman.
Proverbs 3:13-18 says,
13“Happy are those who find wisdom and those who get understanding, 14 for her income is better than silver and her revenue better than gold. 15 She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. 16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.”
The Holy Spirit is wisdom
(1 Corinthians 2:10-13).
Now that I’ve explained why I know the Holy Spirit is always with me and why I call her a woman, let me share a recent example of how She is a smart aleck in my life.
One Sunday recently, I was feeling anxious and overwhelmed about all I had to do that day at church. I was teaching Sunday school, helping lead worship at our church, leading worship at a retirement community and had an evening ministry event as well. I was feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and a little bit self-important. To make sure I was able to do all the things and be in all the places, I showed up to church extra early.
Every Sunday, before Sunday school, your pastors and sound technicians gather early to do a microphone check and walk through worship. We check our sound levels and rehearse all the movements during worship. This day, I performed my sound check early so I could be on time at all the places I needed to be.
To be honest, since I’m telling this story, I will share that I was feeling pretty self-important that day. Obviously I was important! I had to do microphone check, teach Sunday school, and on and on.
I finished my microphone check and I had just told the sound techs that I needed to go because I had soo much to do that day. I listed off all the places I would be serving and leading that day. I was so wrapped up in my schedule and how important I was, that I didn’t look where I was going.
I fell down all four steps of the chancel and landed on my right knee. I shouted obscenities as I was mid-air and knew that it would be a few seconds before I landed.
As I sat on the carpet in front of the altar taking deep breaths and inventory of my body, I knew that nothing was broken, but I also knew that this was a preventable injury.
As part of ministry tasks, walking is not something I count as a special to-do. When I listed off all my “important” ministry work of the day, I did not include walking. I took it for granted that I should look where I am going. If I had been more present to where I was at the time instead of being wrapped up in where I needed to be in the future, I would not have fallen.
Falling down all four chancel steps while listing off the places I “had to” serve that day felt to me like a creative way for the Holy Spirit to humble me.
I’m not saying that the Holy Spirit caused me to fall. That was all me. However, when I landed, I felt the wisdom of the Holy Spirit reminding me that I am not as important as sometimes I think I am. Maybe, just maybe, I need to slow down and watch my step.
If that wasn’t humbling enough, I was humbled even further when I had to opt out of helping with worship here because I couldn’t climb back up those stairs.
And here’s where the Holy Spirit made herself blatantly clear….That afternoon, I still led worship at the retirement community, but I had to do it from a chair. Furthermore, my little sermon, which I had written the week before, was about how God is with us even when we stumble.
I had prayed and prepared a worship service to encourage senior adults, specifically aiming to encourage those who use walkers or canes to get around. But in a way that only the Holy Spirit can arrange, I was preaching to myself. God is with me even when I stumble. There is no shame in me leaning on Christ for support. The Holy Spirit goes with me. I had to laugh at what felt like obvious Holy Spirit shenanigans.
I feel like the Holy Spirit is often humbling me with her shenanigans. Is that true for you? I’d love to hear the story! Email me at or call me at 817-282-7384 ext. 1222. Let’s have coffee! –Sarah Boyette
