Signed, Sealed and Soon to be Delivered!

I mentioned in an earlier post of the adjustment of coming back to the field after being stateside. I want to expound on that a bit this morning. Here in Haiti, there is definitely an atmosphere of the "Island Life". There is so much to do and people move at a snails pace. The pace of life in the USA is so much faster and as a result, many more things are accomplished in a day. Well, adjusting to this "island life" feel is somewhat stressful at times. You might think it is like being on vacation, and it is for a while, but as life takes shape and you develop your daily routines, it is not like a vacation at all. I am not even back working in my normal job yet and am already somewhat frustrated with the things that this little island brings in its lacksidaisical mood. I will adjust, I usually do, but it does take time.

In my bible study this morning, I was reading how the Spirit seals us. Then I started thinking, what does "sealed" really mean? We seal a jar to keep mango jelly fresh, we seal envelopes when we mail a letter to protect it's contents until it arrives at the destination, we seal a tupperware container when putting it in the refridgerator so the food will stay fresh. Sometimes we shake hands with someone when we agree on something, this is another form of sealing. Christ tomb was sealed. I turned to my bible to see what I could find on "sealing". In Eph. 1:13, it says, "Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit". It goes on to say later in Eph. 4:30 "Remember, he has identified you as His own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption". This seal that we have from God is the seal of the Holy Spirit. In Romans, it talks about how the Spirit joins himself with our spirits to say we are God's Children. This is our guarantee that we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is right with us all the time. Sometimes, I know that the Spirit is with me. I have a spring in my step and I feel secure and safe...even when I make a mistake or something bad happens, I am sure that the Spirit is with me. However there are other times when I don't feel so sure....

In my frustrations of getting used to Island Life again, I have sometimes felt very alone, even though I know that God is with me and I am certain of His love for me and do not doubt that. In Romans chapter 5 it talks about the hope we have in Christ. In 5:5 it says, "And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love". We belong to the Father. Signed, sealed and soon to be delivered. Here is the seal again. But the feeling of aloneness still creeps in at times and if you are like me, I don't even know what to say in my prayers. But let me share with you what it says in Romans 8:26-27, "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. WOW!!! I haven't ever been to court for anything, but I can imagine what it would be like to have someone up there pleading for my case. Someone saying the words that I can't seem to come up with. Someone standing up for me when I am being accused and don't know what to say or do. Someone speaking the desires of my heart when I am not even sure what they are. The Holy Spirit does our praying for us, making sense out of our prayer to God. When we mumble and stumble all over our words not knowing what to say or what is really in our hearts, much less how to get it out, the Holy Spirit does it for us. He is connected to our spirit and knows our deepest desires. This is just amazing to me. Talk about a seal. This is an incredible seal and guarantee that we are not alone. We have someone standing with us all the time, protecting us, fighting for us, an advocate for us. Someone who knows our needs even when we are adjusting to the island life and don't even know what those needs are
Now that is just AWESOME!