Whether I had to be taken into sleeplessness, loss of appetite, spiritual pressure, or financial deficit, I learned that the discipline of God is always consistent. Indeed, he is “not a respecter of persons” (Romans 2:11).

Not only is his discipline consistent across the board, for all of his children, so is his reward for their pleasing and faithful behavior. Walking in obedience to his wooing and to his word pays dividends for this life and for eternity (1 Corinthians 3:9–15)!

My story is only beginning in this book. Its focus is, indeed, about the phenomenal ways in which Holy Spirit has been the core driver of my life’s circumstances and situations. No, not in interfering with my “free will,” but using my life circumstances and choices to influence his sovereign will and plan for me. Indeed, he knows the plans he has for me which are to give me a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). Though that verse was directed specifically to the children of Israel, it can certainly be generalized as applicable to all of us.

My desire, above all, is that this book will encourage the hopeless. But it is also my desire to emphasize that God is not our genie, Santa Claus, or slot machine. If we choose to walk in willful perpetual disobedience, the consequences are punishments, not rewards. I learned that truth the “hard way!”