I have a fitness challenge for you: Go to the nearest wall. Press your back flat against it. Then slide down into a sitting position so that your legs are at a 90 degree angle while your back is still flat against the wall and hold your hands straight out in front of you. How long can you last?
I managed 47 seconds.
Now, do the exact same thing, only this time do it without the wall. How long can you last?
More than 0 seconds?
When Jesus was with his disciples in the Upper Room on the night before he died, he made them a promise:
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father - the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father - he will testify about me.” (John 15:26)
Now, the Holy Spirit is called many things in Scripture. Here Jesus calls him the “Spirit of truth.” He is not the “Spirit of your opinion,” the “Fitness-Instructor-Pep-Talker who yells at you to reach your maximum potential” the “Spirit of Grandma Carter who says you’re perfect just the way you are.” He is the Spirit of truth.
The Holy Spirit is your wall.
When you are struggling in this world, when every fiber of your being is straining to maintain composure, when you’re on the verge of tears because of the exertion that self-control and self-esteem require, the Holy Spirit is your wall.
The trick to wall sits isn’t just to abide and try to hold yourself up on your own. You have to lean into and push against the wall. It hurts! But your legs get stronger, and you can last longer.
When you’re struggling in this life, trying to abide and hold yourself up - giving yourself pep talks or trying to put things into perspective, using those tired, old clichés, “You did your best,” or “Today’s a new day” - you can maybe last a while. But when the strain comes and you lean into the Spirit of truth, you have something real and tangible to hold onto and support you, something outside of yourself that provides a strength you do not possess.
As a Christian, my self-esteem is not based on whether I’m better today than I was yesterday. My self-worth is not in jeopardy when I fail. My identity has less to do with me than it does with what the Spirit of truth tells me:
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father - the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father - he will testify about me.” (John 15:26)
The Spirit of truth points us to Jesus. When I have failed, the Spirit shows me his cross, where my sins and failures are forgiven. When I feel hopeless and lost, the Spirit shows me his empty tomb, where the angel came to announce Jesus’ victory and ours. When I want to give up, curl up in a ball, succumb to the pressure and pain, when I want to stop struggling and straining, the Spirit shows me Jesus who labored for me and still does from the position of power at his Father’s right hand in heaven.
I think a lot of us crave validation. Secretly I want you to be impressed that I could last 47 seconds against the wall (I was even tempted to lie to inflate that number…). But if my self-worth is based on myself, then I do have reason for concern and cause for worry. When the Spirit of truth points me to Jesus, though, I have a hope and comfort that is real, a strength that I do not posses, that I can hold onto, that will last no matter what happens in my life.
Without the wall, I would fall within a second. I’ll still fall with the wall - embarrassingly quickly at times - but the more I lean into it, the stronger I’ll be because of it and the longer I can last with it.
The Holy Spirit is your wall. Lean on his truth. Despair of your strength and tap into his. Listen to his testimony about Jesus, and all his strength and comfort and counsel will be yours.
soli Deo gloria
55 seconds…