But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. —Galatians 5:22–23
Have you ever been completely frozen up?
Several months before I had the experience I’m going to share with you, I had moved my family to a new city. The career decision seemed right. Being the president of a growing division of an aggressive, publicly traded company sounded like the perfect career step. But the day our plane touched down in our new hometown, the company’s stock price began to drop. I knew I wasn’t responsible, but I also knew that I was going to have to live in the wake of it. Several months later, sales began to slide. Several other divisions began bleeding red ink. Serious personnel problems loomed ominously on the horizon. The pressure was overwhelming.
Late one warm afternoon, I returned to my office from a brutal meeting in the boardroom with the senior management team. I felt emotional exhaustion as I had never felt it before. My secretary appeared in my doorway, her arms full of reports and urgent callback slips. She unceremoniously dropped them in front of me.
Sitting down and sliding the chair under my desk, I scanned all the things lying there now screaming for my attention. But I couldn’t move. Maybe I’ll make a few calls, I thought. But my hand wouldn’t lift to pick up the phone to return calls, even the urgent ones. “I’m frozen up,” I said out loud. “I can’t do anything.”
Then an idea flashed into my brain, one that boosted my spirits. I felt a quick burst of energy. “I’m going to call Doc,” I said out loud, talking as though someone else were in my office. I still knew his direct number by heart.
The phone on the other end only rang once. “Hello,” my former boss said in his familiar South Carolina drawl. “Doc,” I said, choking back the tears, “it’s me.”
“Hello, Robert,” my former superior responded. “How ya doin’?” No words would come out of my mouth. I tried to speak but could not say a thing. In a moment, I was sobbing uncontrollably. After a minute or two and a chance to regain my composure, I filled Doc in on what was going on and how poorly I was handling the pressure. “How can I help you, my friend?” he said, his voice filled with genuine compassion. “Tell me what you’d do if you were me” was my immediate response.
Over the next thirty minutes, my former boss, a seasoned veteran of stress and pressure, poured himself into me, filling me with assurance and wisdom I had never known before. Here I was, a blubbering neophyte, working for my former company’s toughest competitor, soaking in the kindness of an old friend—a man who should have celebrated the opposition’s misfortune. The experience was life changing.
When we have completely run out of answers . . . When our solutions are woefully inadequate . . . When our energy and our desire to go on have reached the point of no return, God’s Holy Spirit picks up the phone on the first ring. “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” are ours (vv. 22–23). Immediately. Let the sovereign God of the universe lavish you with what you lack.
Let His grace free your aching soul. Be filled with His Spirit. He will deliver you. I promise.
Thank You, Father in heaven. Thank you, Doc. Now I can breathe again.