As usual, I like to start with understanding the meaning of any word that I use in a spiritual phrase, in order for all of us (myself included!) to understand the full meaning of it. The word 'harness' as a verb means: to bring under conditions for effective use; gain control over for a particular end.
With regards to the Holy Spirit, this means that we bring ourselves under His force or power. If we replace the word harness in the phrase at the end of the top paragraph with the first part of the definition, it reads: to bring under conditions for effective use [of] the power of the Holy Spirit.
But how exactly do we bring ourselves to a condition in which we can effectively use the power of the Holy Spirit? First, we have to trust Him, trust that His power is within us and is real and good. We can often let ourselves become overwhelmed by the world around us, the circumstances in which we live, the struggles that we have or find ourselves in, and can lose sight of the work God is doing or wants to do within us, because of what's going on outside of us.
Yes, the power of the Holy Spirit is within us, within our grasp, within or ability to use; but we still have to choose to use it. Because of our free with we have the ability to choose whether to cooperate with grace or reject it. More often than not, when we choose not to cooperate with grace, we end up in sin. To choose to cooperate with grace keeps us from sin and deception.
The devil works hard to keep us from harnessing the power of the Holy Spirit - why? Because when we cooperate with the grace of the Holy Spirit, we become holy! The Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier - to sanctify something means to make it pure, make it holy, full of sanctity. If the devil can keep us from cooperating with the Holy Spirit, he becomes the one with power over us instead of the Holy Spirit having power over us. We choose who we allow to have power over us by how we choose to cooperate (or not to cooperate) with God's grace.
To know that the Holy Spirit lives and works within us (by virtue of our baptism and confirmation especially), is the first step to cooperating with Him. There are torrents of grace right within our own soul!! The Holy Spirit is alive within us, present with His power to make us holy! We have to trust in His mission, the mission he was sent forth to accomplish at that first Pentecost nearly two thousand years ago when He came and dwelt with the apostles and disciples and holy women. Once Jesus ascended to the Father, the Holy Spirit was sent into the world to make us holy! Which brings us to the second part of the definition of harness: gain control over for a particular end. We gain control (obtain the power) of the Holy Spirit by allowing Him to gain control over us for a particular end: holiness. We were all created for Heaven, and to be in Heaven we need to be holy, therefore our goal is to become holy. The Holy Spirit will make us holy if we allow His power to take control of our lives instead of trying to control our lives ourselves.
So how do we cooperate with the power of the Holy Spirit? How to we harness it? To make it so that the Holy Spirits power can be effectively used in us? We have to be docile. What does it mean to be docile? The definition of docile is: readily trained or taught; teachable. I believe that the key word here is readily. We have to be eager, pliable; in other words, to throw ourselves at the mercy of being trained and taught by the Holy Spirit. We can't exactly half-heartedly give ourselves, to be sort-of trained and taught - we have to be of the mindset to be readily teachable. To absorb whatever we are told, knowing that it is right and good. An analogy that might help us understand this better is perhaps a teacher-student relationship. If we are learning algebra, and we aren't being teachable - if we are constantly doubting what we are being taught, thinking maybe it's not right or as good as it should be, and not applying ourselves, we will get absolutely NO WHERE! No matter how much we make ourselves present, sit in class and listen, etc., if we don't have a teachable attitude, we won't learn. The same applies with the Holy Spirit; if we doubt His power, His goodness, and are constantly questioning Him instead of just allowing ourselves to absorb whatever He gives, He can't make us holy. We have to submit ourselves to our instructor.
To be docile, then, is like to being submissive. However, it is not to be understood that this submission is passive! No, it is a most active participation. We have to actively, readily apply ourselves, as we do when learning algebra. We have to make a choice, to decide (decide being an active verb) to be docile, teachable. If we listen, follow, and apply ourselves to the instructions given by a math teacher, we can do the work and the teacher has accomplished their mission. Each day we have apply ourselves. But if we do, and we listen to and follow the action of the Holy Spirit, we can do the work we need to do and the Holy Spirit's mission of making us holy is accomplished.
To speak of myself personally, I much too often fail in just the first step! It is difficult sometimes to remember that the Holy Spirit is within me, the power is already there, the teacher is in my midst, and ready to make me holy. When I feel that I've lost control, I start to panic! But really, that is the goal - to lose control, so that the Holy Spirit can gain control!
As I celebrated Pentecost this weekend, it was probably one of the most - if not THE most - powerful Pentecost celebrations of my life. Did I have some crazy powerful experience where I felt so palpably the presence of the Holy Spirit and His power in my life? Not exactly... but what I DID experience is the knowledge of His very real presence and power, even when I might not be able to feel it. We can't live off of how we feel, we have to live off of truth. We have to trust what we know to be true, and how we feel doesn't always (or I should say almost never!) reflects reality. My Pentecost was powerful because I had a renewed trust in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. I could see in many ways the fruits of His work, and could see my need to be more docile because He is always there and ready to help me accomplish the plan He has for me. His plan is holiness - that is the mission, that is the goal. Everything else along the way serves to help us achieve that end goal. If we keep the goal of holiness in the forefront of our thoughts, we can truly harness the power of the Holy Spirit, and see Him at work in our lives, within our very souls.
So let us, as we celebrate the Holy Spirit's presence this Pentecost season, remember to recognize His presence within us, to trust in His goodness, and to actively submit to His sanctifying work in our souls. Lastly, watch for game changers. Sometimes when I'm praying for something, God answers my prayer in ways that I definitely didn't expect, and would almost miss the clue if I wasn't trying to be teachable. Sometimes when He answers a prayer, it requires a little more work than we thought it would to obtain when He offers, but if it is what He wants, let Him teach you.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, not are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts are above your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9
His plans for us are not the same as our plans for us - they are better, higher, holier. So if the Holy Spirit is throwing you a game changer, trust in His plan for your holiness and "do whatever He tells you"! (John 2:5).
