“Siri, where is the nearest gas station?”

“Alexa, where can I rent a tux nearby?”

We live in an information age where all we have to do is ask our nearest smart device for help. We have our own personal machines that give us directions, find us new places for food and entertainment, and answer questions that make life less complicated.

If only Alexa could answer questions like How should I resolve this conflict with my relatives? or Can you help me not to fall apart emotionally over this tragedy? or Who can I turn to to rescue me from this mess? or How can I have the inner character to deal with the things life throws at me? or the greatest question of all What will happen when I die or someone close to me does? 

Siri and Alexa fall short when it comes to our deepest human needs. A Facebook post draws many hearts and promises of prayer, but seldom comes close to offering the guidance we need in those times of confusion or devastation.

So what’s a girl to do on this Journey through life when tough times come?

We have a personal navigator available to us. In fact, if we are a child of the King, this navigator is very personal, He lives inside us. First Corintians 6:19 tells us:

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” 

We have a helper for The Journey, our own personal Siri, the Holy Spirit. One who has all the answers, every time. And One who has implanted within us things to help us before we ever ask – things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

You say, “But I have no patience.” I beg to differ with you. As a child of God with the Holy Spirit living in you, there are within each of us these fruit listed above. Our problem is we haven’t bothered to nourish and water these traits. We ignore the Spirit’s promptings and impatiently or hatefully or greedily push on ahead instead of acting on the gentle tuggings of His Spirit within. The fruit sits inside our heart of hearts with the Holy Spirit shriveled and unused. We need to become as quick at accessing the Holy Spirit as we are at accessing Alexa or info on our smart phones. Romans 8:5 reminds us of this truth:

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

At times on our Journey we feel weak and helpless. We wander in indecision, doubt or fear. Later on in Romans 8 God’s Word says,

“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.”

We are not alone! We have a helper – a strong helper. We aren’t left to wander in our confusion and unanswered questions. Not sure of the direction to take? Ask God. Not sure you can handle the situation? Ask God. Not sure you even know what to pray? His Spirit will step in and pray for us. How many times have I only been able to choke out the simple prayer, “Lord! Help me. Please!” And that opened the door for the Spirit to do the rest. Oswald Chambers says, “the Holy spirit Himself prays prayers in us which we cannot utter ourselves. … He expresses for us the unutterable.” (My Utmost For His Highest, Nov. 8)

God’s Spirit dwells in us. Is he an honored guest in your world or a forgotten stranger holed up in a back room?

I love what Paul has to say about the Holy Spirit of God in 1 Corinthians 2:10-16:

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 

God’s Spirit searches us.

He knows the thoughts of God and reveals them to us. (Wow!)

Through Him we have the mind of Christ.

As you head out on your Journey of life today, don’t forget to access your personal navigator. Listen to Him closely. Trust His directions. He will guide your Journey even when the road ahead seems unclear. And He’ll answer questions and meet needs along the way.

Enjoy the Journey!