Daily life can be very fraught. We have the daily responsibilities of life at work, getting the children to school ferrying them around, then when we get home the bills to sort out, the garden to keep up, the house to clean.
The Roman world of Jesus and Paul was one in which it was believed that the actions of gods in the heavens above affected the earth below. So that if Zeus got angry, thunderbolts shot out. What happened in the heavens affected the earth below.
‘Humble yourselves, therefore under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” 1 Peter 5:6
We don’t like to admit it but Christianity may have proved to be a disappointment. Our coming to Jesus was genuine but there did not follow a radical transformation. Our life then is a like a jigsaw with lots of pieces missing. This is life without the Holy Spirit.
I guess if we are honest with ourselves we all probably have a fear of one kind or another. Snakes, spiders or things that go bump in the night, small spaces, water etc. It is often the unknown that holds us in its grip and we can be gripped by the fear of someone who is so above and beyond our understanding. This can be true of the Holy Spirit
In my years as a church leader I found that the Holy Spirit was often the person of the trinity who people found the hardest to understand and relate to. I found that some loving, committed and faithful Christians had even become fearful of the Holy Spirit and his work and ministry in our lives.
