The Holy Spirit Backfire!

Psalm 4:4-5 (Click on reference to read text)

I am ashamed to say I was lying awake in bed at 3am trying my hardest to come up with the best way to "zing" my husband... deliver the perfect sentence to convey enough conviction, guilt, and meanness to cause him to change a decision. I knew it wasn't right, but I was convinced that the Holy Spirit needed a little bit of help to manipulate my husband into doing what I wanted him to do. After two hours of rehearsing the perfect sentence, I was trying to go back to sleep. Since I was awake I started praying for those the Lord brought to mind, and Psalm 4 popped into my head. My mother has always taught me to read any Scripture the Lord brings to mind, so I reached over and grabbed my Bible. This is what I read:

"In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD."

It was I who got "zinged!" I was about to sin in my anger, I was not going to be silent and I was even lying in my bed! I immediately knew what I needed to do: "be silent... and trust in the Lord." Instead of trying to come up with a way to manipulate my husband into agreeing with me, I decided to trust the Lord and allow Him to work in the heart of my husband or in my heart... whichever one needed to be changed.

Please tell me I am not the only one! Have you ever had a situation where you were trying to play the Holy Spirit and change people instead of allowing the Lord to do His work? The Bible says, "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise" (Prov 10:19). The Bible also tells us to trust in the Lord and HE will make your righteousness shine like the dawn and the justice of your cause like the noonday sun (Ps 37:4-6).

The Holy Spirit doesn't need our help. Let's lay down our need to control, our need to get our own way, and just be silent and trust in Him.