Holy Spirit: Overcoming Life’s Struggles

Peace I (Jesus) leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 (NIV) 

Humans have always had to face hardships and struggles in many forms: persecution, sickness, harassment, imprisonment, even death. These difficulties could cause people to fear that God has abandoned them. But when a person accepts God through Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to live within one’s hearts (see Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:5-6). In essence, believers of Jesus are indwelt with the life giving Holy Spirit as a result of their wholehearted faith in Jesus to help handle all life’s hardships and struggles (Romans 8:10). 

The Holy Spirit as our “Helper” He would send to the disciples after He returned to the Father (John 14:16). In difficult times, the Holy Spirit is present as our Helper, Advocate, and Strength to overcome stressful circumstances and situations (see John 14:27). Once we accept Jesus by faith, Jesus requests the Holy Spirit, and God the Father sends the Holy Spirit in answer to Jesus’ request. God freely gives believers the Holy Spirit to fill their hearts with His love and peace (see Jeremiah 31:33-34; Acts 2:17-21; Romans 5:5). Only when God’s Holy Spirit is present within a person’s heart can one achieve true peace and fruitfulness (Ezekiel 36:22-38; Galatians 5:22-23). 

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit brings God’s peace and comfort to handle life’s pain or circumstance. Unlike worldly peace, God’s peace from the Holy Spirit guarantees believers that in any circumstance God will never leave, forsake, or abandon them (Matthew 28:20; Romans 8:35-39). The Holy Spirit is the intercessor that indwells the believer and serves as the Revealer and Helper of God’s will. 

Jesus to Disciples:  And I (Jesus) will pray to (God) the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14:16-18 (NKJV).

Jesus Christ send the Holy Spirit to believers as a gift to live with and within their hearts (John 14:17). The Holy Spirit is God working with, around, and inside believers every day. To have the Holy Spirit is to have Jesus Christ Himself (John 14:18), who never leaves or abandons us (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is just a simple pray away to ask for His help in any life difficulties (see John 14:16-18, 27). 

Also, the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit Himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain. 27 God can see what is in people’s hearts. And He knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God for His people in the way God wants. Romans 8:26-27 (NCV). 

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. Ephesians 2:18 (NLT). 

Also, the Holy Spirit works to provide all people - Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews)  full access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18). Because of Jesus’ sacrifice for ours sins on the Cross at Calvary, believers receive the Holy Spirit to approach God openly through prayer (see Ephesians 3:12; Acts 10:34-37, 44-48; 1 Peter 3:18). In the prayer life of believers, the Holy Spirit intercedes and prays for us before God. Even more, the Holy Spirit empowers believers’ prayers and makes them effective. One specific kind of prayer that the New Testament says is empowered by the Holy Spirit is the gift of prayer in tongues (see 1 Corinthians 12:10-11; 1 Corinthians 14:2; 14-17). 

Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Ephesians 6:17 (NLT)

Another work of the Holy Spirit is empowering believers to overcome any spiritual hostility, attacks or opposition. Simply put, the Holy Spirit strengthens believers for spiritual warfare that opposes them. Fear, sin, evil, uncertainty, doubt, and numerous other forces are all at war within and around believers. However, the Holy Spirit is the peace within our hearts and lives to restrain these hostile forces against us. The Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to distinguish between spirits and defeat evil. The Word of God functions as the “sword of the Spirit”. That is why believers MUST read and study the Holy Bible.

For the Word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12 (NLT)

The sword of the Spirit is the only weapon of offense against evil attacks, hostility, and opposition. When believers are tempted, we need to trust in the truth of God’s Word. Sadly, all believers are sometimes engaged in a spiritual battle and find themselves subject to evil’s attacks because they are no longer on evil’s side. To withstand evil attacks and hostility, believers must depend on God’s Holy Spirit and His Word and fight evil using the strength of the Holy Spirit’s power living within us. 

The Book of Acts highlights the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the early Christians and their many struggles. Because of the status of the Holy Spirit’s work in Acts, the Book has often been called “the Acts of the Holy Spirit.” Early church believers in the Book of Acts overcame many obstacles to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. For instance, Stephen and Philip were filled with the Holy Spirit and preached by His power and direction despite hostile opposition (Acts 6–8). Moreover, the Apostle Paul’s ministry was empowered and strengthen with a strong presence of the Holy Spirit as his guide and energy after encounter with Jesus Christ (Acts 9:17; Acts 13:4). 

Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:11 (NIV). 

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! Luke 11:13 (NIV)

Jesus Christ promised the help of the Holy Spirit in times of trial (Mark 13:11). The Holy Spirit gives believers courage and the right words to say in time of trouble (see also Matthew 5:11). Jesus Christ sends His Spirit to strengthen believers who are persecuted. To receive boldness, believers only needs to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to give them courage, strength, and confidence (Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit helps believers in their weakness (Romans 8:26). 

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 (NASB)

As a believer of Jesus Christ, you are not left alone here on earth to handle and cope with life’s problems. Even when you do not know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays on our behalf before God, and God answers. With God’s Spirit helping us pray, a believer should never be afraid to come before God the Father. Always pray and ask the Holy Spirit to intercede and pray for you “in accordance with God’s will” (Romans 8:27). Then, when you bring your prayers and requests to God, trust that God will always do what is best. 

During our struggles, the Holy Spirit brings an atmosphere of peace into situations. The Holy Spirit imparts an atmosphere of joy (see also Acts 13:51; 1 Thessalonians 1:6). God is “not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33 - NKJV). In spite of the circumstances and struggles believers face, they are not alone. God’s Holy Spirit is present (omnipresence) as revealed in Psalm 139:7. Believers can rest in the peace of Jesus Christ’s Holy Spirit in the most troublesome times. 

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I [Jesus Christ] am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20 (NLT).