The Icy Windshield and the Frigid Heart

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

One day a follower of Christ noticed they felt empty and numb to God. They were not sure when this sensation had begun. They went to church on a regular basis, but their spiritual life was mundane and lackluster. Attending church was simply a dead ritual they participated in week after week. Once or twice they had stayed home on Sunday, but that made them feel even more empty and distant from God.

 

They would attempt to read their Bible, but often their mind would wander and they would find themselves reading the same verse over and over, failing to comprehend what it meant.

 

They wondered why God had abandoned them. Why had He left their life? Didn’t He care about them? If God really loved them wouldn’t He do something to wake them up from this spiritual sleep? It really was troubling that no matter what they did; God seemed to have moved far away into a distant land ignoring their needs of fellowship with Him.

 

As they contemplated this dilemma the follower of Christ got ready for work. Spiritual depression began to creep into their heart, mind and soul. Such a dark day it was.

 

They finished dressing, ate breakfast and then walked out to their car on this extremely cold morning in New York. They started their car, totally unaware of the thin sheet of ice that had formed on their windshield.

 

They backed out of their driveway and then began to drive down the street, only to have the brilliant sun reflect rays of sunshine through the ice on the cold windshield and prevent any possible way of discerning what lay ahead.

 

They stopped the car abruptly. Anger began to boil as they contemplated having to get out in the frigid cold and scrape off the ice. Then their anger faded as they turned on the heater, turned the fan up to high and waited for the heater to warm the windshield and melt the ice.

 

As they sat trying to be patient for the heater to warm up the car the Holy Spirit once again, as it had done many times, shared a tiny hint of spiritual truth with them. It wasn’t something deeply theological, but it was very convicting.

 

The follower of Christ heard the whisper of the Spirit of God this time regarding 1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Quench not the Spirit.” They allowed this truth to penetrate the cold walls of resistance in their heart and settle deep within their mind.

 

As the follower of Christ contemplated this verse it hit them as they gazed at the frozen icy windshield. They had become frigid spiritually because they had quenched the Holy Spirit who lived within them.

 

They bowed their head in humble submission and confessed their sin of ignoring God’s Spirit, of choosing to distance themselves from Him, of avoiding His promptings and desires for an intimate relationship.

 

Their heart and mind warmed to the thought of spiritual nourishment from their Heavenly Father through the Word of God spoken to them by the Spirit of the Lord. They sensed the presence of Christ Himself and realized it was them and not their Heavenly Father that had wandered away from the relationship.

 

They opened their eyes feeling renewed and noticing the warmth in their heart that lifted them from their spiritual depression. They became aware that the warmth from the heater had melted the ice on the windshield and the brilliant sun was shining upon them as if it were the warmth of God’s love flooding into the car. They thought about how the sun had been blocked by the frigid ice on their windshield and how similar it was to how the Son of God had been blocked by their own frigid cold heart.

 

How thankful they were that the Holy Spirit had convicted them through the Holy Word and that their repentance had melted their icy heart so that fellowship could be restored to their Heavenly Father, their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the person of the Holy Spirit who lived within them.

 

Then an old song came to their mind that had long been forgotten. They remembered it had been written by a young woman who, though wracked by pain from arthritis, had chosen to serve as a missionary to the lumber jacks in the wilderness of Canada. They stumbled to remember the name of the song and then recalled it’s title, “For the Gift of God the Spirit.”

 

Yes, they thought, the Holy Spirit was absolutely a gift from God. As they drove to work they sang the words of the song, no longer quenching the Holy Spirit who had loved and ministered to them on this cold winter morning.

 

For the Gift of God the Spirit

By Margaret Clarkson, 1959

 

For your gift of God the Spirit,

power to make our lives anew,

pledge of life and hope of glory,

Savior, we would worship you.

Crowning gift of resurrection

sent from your ascended throne,

fullness of the very Godhead,

come to make your life our own.

 

 

He who in creation’s dawning

brooded on the lifeless deep,

still across our nature’s darkness

moves to wake our souls from sleep,

moves to stir, to draw, to quicken,

thrusts us through with sense of sin;

brings to birth and seals and fills us saving Advocate within.

 

 

He, himself the living Author,

wakes to life the sacred Word,

reads with us its holy pages

and reveals our risen Lord.

He it is who works within us,

teaching rebel hearts to pray,

he whose holy intercessions

rise for us both night and day.

 

 

He, the mighty God, indwells us;

his to strengthen, help, empower;

his to overcome the tempter

ours to call in danger’s hour.

In his strength we dare to battle

all the raging hosts of sin,

and by him alone we conquer

foes without and foes within.

 

 

Father, grant your Holy Spirit

in our hearts may rule today,

grieved not, quenched not, but unhindered,

work in us his sovereign way.

Fill us with your holy fullness,

God the Father, Spirit, Son;

in us, through us, then, forever,

shall your perfect will be done.

 

Do you feel distant from God, forgotten and neglected? If so, remember once you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior He never leaves nor forsakes you (Hebrews 13:5-6). The Holy Spirit was given to you when you accepted Christ to be your advocate, comforter, encourager, protector, but He also convicts you of sin. God never moves from His relationship with you, you are always the one who chooses to walk away. If you have strayed from the Lord come back to Him; repent of a cold heart and an attitude of indifference. Confess you have quenched the Spirit and ask for forgiveness. Once you have renewed your relationship with God a process of restoration will take place spiritually in your life. As you let the Word of Christ dwell in your richly (Colossians 3) you will be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5) and the marvelous and abundant fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5) will spill out of your abundant life in Christ.

 

If you have never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, please seek the Lord Jesus Christ and accept His sacrifice for your sins. Open your heart and mind to the Father, Son and Spirit and begin a life-changing relationship with them. You will never be the same and as you seek to stay in fellowship with God, you will be blessed, challenged, comforted, protected and yes, at times, convicted. Remember that God loves and accepts you as you are, but He loves you too much to leave you that way. He will place the Holy Spirit within you to spur you on to good works, abundant life and a stable fulfilled life. You’ll never regret it.

 

How Deep The Father’s Love For Us

Stuart Townend, 1995

 

How deep the Father’s love for us,

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

 

How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the chosen One,

Bring many sons to glory

 

Behold the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,

Call out among the scoffers

 

It was my sin that left Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I know that it is finished

 

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection

 

 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16