Devotional from Pastor Dave May 29, 2024

When would you say God has stirred your spirit in the past? And how might God be stirring your spirit today?

These are questions that have come to my mind these past few days as we make our way forward in our daily schedule for reading through the Bible this year.

Both at the end of 2 Chronicles and the beginning of Ezra, we’re told that “the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia” to allow the Israelites who had been carried off into exile in Babylon to return home and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chron 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-4). Isn’t it interesting that the Lord God of Israel is described here as stirring up the spirit of a foreigner, an outsider, even an enemy of Israel like King Cyrus of Persia?

But God wasn’t just stirring the spirit of Cyrus. We’re also told that “the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:5). And sure enough, as we’ll read in a few months in the prophet Haggai, “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts their God” (Haggai 1:14).

A couple of Sundays ago, we celebrated Pentecost, the birthday of the church, the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples gathered in Jerusalem and empowered and enabled them to share the good news of Jesus Christ with people all over the world. The Spirit of the Lord was astir among Jesus’ disciples then, and I believe the Spirit of the Lord is still astir among Jesus’ disciples today, inspiring and empowering our work and our witness together here in his name. In fact, I believe the Spirit of the Lord stirred several of you on Pentecost Sunday to commit yourselves to help replace our roofs and refresh our church—thank you!

Oftentimes I experience the stirring of God’s Spirit in what I like to call “holy nudges.” Like when someone I haven’t talked to in a while comes to mind, for no apparent reason, and I think to myself, I wonder how they’re doing; maybe I should give them a call. Or like when I sense my heart rate rising and my ears burning when I hear a story of someone treated unfairly or enduring injustice. Or like when I’m reading the scriptures and a phrase like “the Lord stirred up the spirit” occurs twice within two consecutive chapters!

I believe the Lord still stirs the spirits of people today, both those we might expect and those we might not expect. So how about it? When would you say God has stirred your spirit in the past? And how might God be stirring your spirit today?