March 23, 2023
Melissa Valerio
One day, I was having lunch at Panera with my 3 younger children. My 11 year old, Victor; my 9 year old, Holly; and my 7 year old, Ryan. Victor decided he didn’t want the strawberry that was sitting on his plate, so he offered it up to anyone that wanted it. Holly happily took the strawberry and set it on her plate. About 10 minutes later when Holly looked for her strawberry, it was gone. Being on the Autism Spectrum, one of her “things” is her inability to rationally ask for help when she needs it. Instead, her default reaction to something that she perceives as wrong is to scream at the top of her lungs in utter contempt of the world. So here we are enjoying our lunch when out of the blue Holly starts screaming “Where’s my strawberry??!?!?!?” Startled out of my wits and sensing the attention of EVERYONE IN THE RESTAURANT piercing through my temples, I frantically shuffled plates and bowls around looking for this blessed strawberry. Meanwhile, Ryan yells at Holly for screaming and demands that she calm down, I’m trying to console her and tell her she only needs to ask nicely, and we’ll all help look for the strawberry. Then I notice Victor, mortified by the whole incident, sinking into his chair and refusing to make eye contact with anyone. “Victor,” I asked, “Did you take the strawberry?” “No” he replied. But I knew he was lying. Finally, after promising to go get strawberries from the grocery store, I was able to get Holly to calm down some. She still had a few more outbursts throughout the rest of the meal. “That was MY strawberry!” she yelled at one point. And “You don’t take my strawberry!” she screamed several minutes after that. Ok, Holly, lesson learned.
Well, thankfully we have a Guide that leads us into truth that’s not so forceful, yet just as powerful. The Holy Spirit! John 16:13 tells us this…”When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on his own, but He will speak whatever He hears.” (CSB) The Holy Spirit gently corrects us in the truth, convicting us in our hearts when we’ve done something displeasing to the Lord or to others (John 16:8). Like taking a strawberry back once you’ve given it. And He also grows us in holiness (1 Peter 1:2), so that we’re thinking, acting, and loving more like Jesus.
So afterward, once we got in the car, I asked Victor to tell the truth. He finally fessed up and said he thought she wasn’t going to eat it since it was just sitting there on her plate after he gave it to her. He figured she forgot about it, and that no one would notice if he took it. But oh no, Holly doesn’t forget. And praise God, neither does the Holy Spirit. He is faithful and committed to developing our character and bringing out the fruit of the Spirit within each of His children (Galatians 5:22-23). And unlike the strawberry, this fruit will never disappear.
Prayer: Dear Lord God, thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of me. Thank You for nudging me along life’s path in order to lead me into the Truth. Help me be sensitive to the Spirit so that I can live the way You direct me, speak the words You tell me, and love the way You show me. With all my love and devotion to Your Son, Jesus, Amen.
Action: The next time you sense the Spirit moving in your spirit, stop and listen. He’s probably prompting you to pray about something. If it’s a burden in your heart or a worry in your spirit, that’s the Holy Spirit inviting you to talk with Him. Get alone with God and ask Him to show you what’s on His heart.
It’s my prayer that I become more sensitive and aware of the Holy Spirit speaking to me and His convictions. Then taking the time to commune with Him about whatever it is He’s trying to tell me.