A Mentor During Hard Times
Have you ever had those “ah ha” moments? Sometimes they are that one piece that helps everything else fit together and sometimes they are so obvious that you don’t know why you didn’t think of it before.
I was helping our youngest son fill out a form for an online contest, when I had just such an “ah ha” moment. One of the questions on the form asked him who he considered to be a mentor of his. He went through the obvious answers of his grandparents, his mom and his dad. Frankly, I was excited to see that I still made the list. It was his last answer that surprised me and made me think. The answer was God/the Holy Spirit.
At first, I wanted to say that he couldn’t say that. I wanted to tell him that wasn’t what the question meant. It reminded me of the old joke where a Sunday school teacher would ask the students a question and the students would always give the answer of “Jesus.” It didn’t matter what the question was.
After we talked, our son reminded me who our God, specifically the Holy Spirit is. He is always with us and He helps us in understanding God’s word. He convicts us. He teaches us.
The definition of a mentor is an experienced and trusted advisor. Synonyms are a guide, confidant, counselor, spiritual leader, and therapist. For those of us, who have a relationship with Christ, the word “mentor” so wonderfully describes who the Holy Spirit is to us.
As followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit is our mentor, our counselor, our comforter, our guide, our confidant who lives within us (Romans 8:9).
Do you ever get stuck in those moments of wanting to give up? Do you ever feel like you are alone in this journey and like a complete failure? Perhaps you are struggling with God, His promises and wondering why He would ever allow your child to struggle with the pain they are experiencing. Maybe you are in the process of making some difficult decision and you feel like it’s a no win situation.
We often go through life, trying to make it day to day on our own. There is a feeling that we should be able to “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.” Our pain is so deep and vulnerable that we don’t dare open up to those who are close to us but keep it buried somewhere.
In those moments, remember that if you are a follower of Christ, you have a mentor, a counselor, a comforter and a guide. You have someone that knows your fears, your feelings of guilt, and the depths of your struggles. You have someone that will guide you to the truth, and our hope.
Written by Jonathan McGuire
