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The Spirit

             In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

Continuing the line of thought from the past couple of days, when a good father  is allowing a child to struggle or even suffer a little because it will help the child, what does the father do? I’ve seen reels  on social media of fathers who seemingly aren’t paying attention catching a falling child, or grabbing something  that would either hurt the child, or that the child knocked over. The old standby for this is the father holding the bike up and running alongside while the kid learns how to pedal and balance the bike. Then, of course, there is the father that taunts or coaxes his child to try to do something. Beyond all that, a father may work behind the scenes on behalf of the child, arranging for others to provide positive experiences. And the child may understand none of this.

                Today’s passage is still about fathers. In this case, the Spirit steps in as our Father. I know this may sound confusing because we know of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, so using one of those names for one of the other members of the Trinity sounds strange, but the description of the Spirit’s activity fits the description of a father. The Spirit helps us in our weaknesses.  He intercedes with others on our behalf. He guides. He counsels. He comforts. He works behind the scenes most of the time. He holds on to our “bike seat” as we learn to do God’s will.

                He doesn’t do what we can do, but He challenges us to do what we can and to trust Him when we can’t do something by ourselves. He doesn’t treat every child the same except in the sense that He loves us.

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