The Spirit Was There: Devotions From Time of GraceSample

The Spirit was there--hovering

The late Rodney Dangerfield built an entire comedy career riffing off his lowly status in the world. Yanking on his necktie, twisting his neck, rolling his bugged-out eyes, he claimed he got no respect from anybody. People laughed at his self-mocking humor, but they also identified with him. Who of us has not felt invisible, unnoticed, and unappreciated?

The Spirit of the Lord is one-third of the mighty Trinity, and yet you’d hardly know it from the scant and inadequate attention he gets from many Christians (guilty). He gets some props on Pentecost Sunday, but then the silence descends again.

The Spirit of the Lord has been present everywhere and always throughout human history. He is the first person of the Trinity to be mentioned by name in Scripture: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:1,2). His hovering was not the dithering indecision of someone who didn’t know what to do. It was just a brief pause, amping up strength, finalizing ideas, brimming with vision and passion, for the six explosive days of creative activity about to happen.

The Spirit still hovers, still creating, still tracking every last bit of human activity, with the passionate goal of enjoying his relationship with believers forever.

Notice him. Appreciate him. Give him a little respect.