The Chair You’re Sitting In

by John Paul Jackson

Dependence on the Holy Spirit takes up a lot more “room” than most of us realize. When we think about being dependent on God, we probably think of specific circumstances such as sharing Jesus with someone on the street, difficult financial situations, unpleasant medical reports, etc. When we are running out of options, or just can’t see any other way out, we have to be dependent on God.

But that isn’t the sort of dependence I mean. I am talking about everyday dependence on the Holy Spirit, the kind that happens as you’re making dinner, driving to the office or helping your kids get ready for school. The Bible says that the “breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4). If we can’t even draw breath without Him, what does that say about our dependence on Him?

He is involved in the lives of His people on a moment-by-moment basis. Do you realize that the chair you’re sitting in doesn’t fall apart because it is His will that it stay in one piece? The roof remains in place because He wants it to remain in place. Your house and office building hold together because of Him. Your laptop turns on every morning because He is looking out for what you own. You can’t drive your car and get to your destination safely without Him. You can’t even get a good night’s sleep without Him (Psalm 127:2).

He is the One who reminds you where you put your keys and that you need to pick up Billy for soccer practice. He is the One who keeps you healthy—He kills germs on your behalf.

Acts 17:28 says that we live, move, and have our being in Him. That isn’t a nice goal for the future or something that applies only to certain times and special circumstances; it is true all the time and in every situation. The Holy Spirit is the breath that gives us life, and He is giving us life right now.

BLOW, BREATH OF GOD

Just as Jesus could do nothing without His Father, so we can do nothing without the Holy Spirit and His empowering presence.

In John 20:22, Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” That is interesting for a variety of reasons, but what intrigues me is that He said those words, and then He breathed on His men, and then the world began changing.

Demons were cast out, sickness was healed, lepers were cleansed, the dead were raised— amazing things happened when Jesus blew the breath of God on His disciples. He released upon them the Spirit of the Father. It was a foretaste, short-lived but powerful, of what is going to happen to you on a consistent basis when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

The One you are dependent on is the One who causes everything to change: your town, your city, your region, your family, your children, your in-laws, your job, your life, your circumstances. He causes everything to change. Therefore, hope is coming, and hope is here.

None of us can do anything without the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of God. He is the Spirit of life.
He is the Spirit of promise.
He is our Helper.

He is our Comforter—
I have yet to find the end of this list.