Experiencing the Holy Spirit as a Constant Companion
SEVERE TRIALS
In August 2015, Anne was at home working, while her husband, Danny, was outside by their pool, enjoying the sun. She had been his caretaker for a few years, as he suffered with severe effects of diabetes, and went to check on him. When she didn’t see him in his chair, she ran downstairs and found him unresponsive in the water. Still alive, Danny was rushed to the ER and placed on life support. Two days later, he died, leaving Anne with intense grief. A few years later in February 2018, while she was writing this book, her beloved father died at age 99. While his death was not unexpected, the loss was no less profound. “I was already a widow,” she writes, “and his homegoing made me an orphan.” Only six months later, in August 2018, Anne was diagnosed with breast cancer. In the past year, she has undergone surgery, radiation, and finished the last of her chemo infusions in Sept., 2019. Despite the challenges, Anne’s been able to see the Lord working through the whole experience: “I had multiple opportunities to share the gospel and to pray with nurses, technicians, doctors, and many others who treated me. His whisper changed my attitude from that of being a cancer victim to being on a mission as His ambassador.” She says that in these trials she’s experienced the Holy Spirit’s comfort, as she has countless times in her life: when she lost two babies to miscarriage, when her son was diagnosed with cancer, and when her beloved mother died. Anne adds, “But nothing - nothing - equals the comfort He has given me since Danny’s move to our Father’s house.”
WHY A BOOK ON THE HOLY SPIRIT?
The Holy Spirit has been the subject of countless books, and Anne makes no claim to attempting a definitive work, or to exploring all the ways He is understood or misunderstood. In fact, she admits she didn’t understand who He was when she was growing up. Terms like “The Holy Ghost” made Him seem spooky and unknowable. Anne’s goal is to help others know that He will be their constant companion through every life experience, leading them to love and rely on Him more. She says she’s never leaned on Him more than in the perplexing trials of recent years. Anne believes the Holy Spirit is the least understood member of the Trinity, often thought of as a mysterious extra, or “a magic genie, a flame of fire, or a vague feeling.” Looking to God’s Word, Anne clearly explains His person, power, and roles. She also points out that His presence is an antidote to loneliness, which affects 22% of Americans, and is epidemic amongst the millennial generation -- despite being so technologically “connected.” In her own experience, she found adjusting to life without her husband to be monumental, even with the help of loving friends and her children, one of whom moved in with her for a year. Today Anne says that while she’s alone, she’s not lonely, having learned to take the Holy Spirit at His Word.
SEVEN WAYS TO EXPERIENCE THE HOLY SPIRIT
To experience the Holy Spirit more fully, Anne offers seven responses to Him:
- Loving Him as a Person, and finding He is our Helper, comforter, advocate, intercessor, counselor, strength, and standby
- Enjoying His presence in eternity, history, and humanity
- Relying on His power to transform, to transform you, and transform others
- Embracing His purpose as He quickens, guides, ignites, shapes, and equips us
- Living by His precepts, which are true and trustworthy
- Reflecting on His purity, exemplified in Jesus, and beautified and magnified in us
- Trusting in His providence, including His pledge, seal, understanding, and prayers
For Christians to know and love the Holy Spirit is vital, Anne says, if they are to have the deepest intimacy there is, and to receive the love, guidance, and comfort we need. “One thing I know for certain: He is not an optional extra in my Christian life. He is a divine necessity,” she states emphatically.
