“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you”

– John 16:13-14; NIV

Linger: to be slow to act (procrastinate); to move slowly (saunter). 

As someone who often puts things off and then rushes to complete them (even this written reflection), I resonate more with this first definition of “linger” than the second.  

However, I knew it was this second definition that the Spirit wanted me to focus on as “linger” became one of my words for 2024.  

Lingering with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sounded nice. Restful. Inviting. What I hadn’t hoped for when selecting this word is how the Spirit would lead me to move slowly through places I didn’t want to linger in—such as anger, shame, selfishness, and insecurity.  

Recently, I noticed this phrase while reading a book: “linger with what provokes you.” This is not a restful type of lingering and doesn’t sound inviting. I squirmed when I read it as the word “linger” seems to pop up everywhere.  

Corrie ten Boom, who was forced to linger in dark places through the Holocaust, shared, “No pit is so deep that He is not deeper still; with Jesus even in our darkest moments, the best remains and the very best is yet to be.” 

Jesus speaks in the lingering. He reveals through Holy Spirit the truth about those places I don’t want to linger in and how to linger with Jesus here. These places are slowly becoming invitations rather than procrastinations.

Reflect: How might the Spirit be inviting you to linger? If you’ve lingered in places you didn’t desire to, at first, what happened when you slowed down and stayed there with Jesus? What would it look like to linger with Jesus today?