The Spirit is the One Who is constantly by our side reminding us of our callings, giving us insight into our work, and equipping us for each task.
I was in South Africa with Hillsong United at the start of their Zion Tour, I sat with some friends for the evening worship event. It was extraordinarily moving. My eyes clouded over with memories. Around me, with hands lifted high, were thousands of people of every race and age, worshipping together. I remembered the times when, as a student in South Africa during the apartheid years, meetings were racially segregated, and the law prohibited contact between people of different ethnic groups. Now I was at a Christian worship event and around me the “rainbow nation,” so called by Archbishop Tutu, was shining. I choked back the tears, eventually giving in. It was deeply moving, and I was stirred to the depths of my spirit by the sight of thousands of worshippers drawn together from every cultural and racial background, praising Jesus in the capital city, Pretoria, which had been the bastion of racial oppression in the apartheid years.
As I listened through the tears, a young Australian singer, Taya Smith, sang a song, “Oceans,” from Hillsong’s new album. The chorus tells of the work of the Spirit breaking borders, smashing barriers, and crossing divides. The words leapt at me. It was the song’s first major outing internationally, and I had not heard it before. I knew in an instant that it was a truly anointed song for our time. Not only is it a Spirit-inspired song, but seeing the border erected by the apartheid regime now destroyed all around me made it an even more powerful and prophetic experience. I cannot forget that evening. After the event, while traveling back in the car, I told one of the band members about the painful memories of those days and the healing I’d received from that song. He listened, tears flowed, and we prayed. I believe that “Oceans” will continue to have a profound and healing effect wherever it is sung.
We see in the book of Acts that the Spirit of God breaks down people’s preconceptions and prejudices, their limitations and assumptions about what is or is not possible. The Spirit of God is here to break down borders, and He gives us the power to roam freely across them. The ultimate human borders of sin and death do not hold. The Spirit is at work, breaking every obstacle to living out our callings in the world.
