 Have you ever experienced a season in life where God seemed like he was a million miles away? I wanna talk to you about the hiding nature of the Holy Spirit. Let's take a look at what the scripture reveals about the nature of the Holy Spirit as we look at the biblical symbol of the dove. I love teaching about the Holy Spirit and I know that you love him too. So write it in the comment section. I love the Holy Spirit. Publicly declare your love for the person of the Holy Spirit. Let's look to the scripture now. I wanna reveal truths from the scripture in regards to the nature of the Holy Spirit revealed in the symbolism of the dove, Luke 3, 21 and 22. One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit in bodily form descended on him like a dove. And the voice from heaven said, you are my dearly loved son and you bring me great joy. Here we see in the scripture, the presence of the Holy Spirit being revealed as a dove. Now this is not to say that the Holy Spirit is in fact a dove, but the Bible gives us this picture of the Holy Spirit because in the symbol of the dove, many aspects of the Holy Spirit's nature are revealed. For example, the dove is innocent. In Matthew chapter 10 verse 16, the Bible says, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. The dove is pure. The Bible says in Leviticus chapter 14 verse 22, and two turtle doves or two young pigeons which are within his means. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. It was understood that if you offered a dove as a sacrifice that you were offering something that was pure. Doves cry in Nahum chapter two verse seven. The Bible says it is decreed that Nineveh be exiled and carried away. Her female slaves moan like doves. We know that the Holy Spirit grieves over our wrongdoing and sin. The Holy Spirit in the symbol of the dove represents new seasons and new beginnings. Genesis chapter one verse two, the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Here we see at the beginning of time, the dove present and hovering over the face of the deep. God speaks his commands and true to his nature the Holy Spirit breathes on the word of God causing creation to come about. Then of course we know the narrative. God creates man. Man falls into sin. God is deeply grieved. So the father seeks to begin creation anew. And to begin creation anew, he sends a worldwide flood. And after the flood we see that Noah is going to begin again. Civilization starting over. Human history beginning again. And what happens at the beginning of this new era? Watch this, Genesis eight verse eight. Then he sends out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth. So it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. Now watch this, verse 10. He waited seven more days. And again sent out the dove from the ark when the dove returned to him in the evening. There in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf. Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again. But this time it did not return to him. So here we see God beginning creation anew. Starting civilization over after the worldwide flood. What does Noah do? He releases a dove in search of dry land. He releases the dove and the dove returns. He releases the dove a second time and the dove returns with plant life in its beak symbolizing that there was dry land appearing. Then Noah releases the dove a third time. This time the dove does not return. So the dove went in search of the place where God would begin again. Watch this, this is powerful. The dove goes in search of the place where God would begin again. The new creation, the new world, the new beginning, the fresh season and all throughout the Old Testament, all throughout this narrative in Genesis. We do not see that dove landing. Not once in the entire Old Testament after this do we see a dove landing. We do not see a dove landing until Matthew chapter three, verses 16 and 17 where the scripture says, and when Jesus was baptized immediately, he went up from the water and behold, the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, the voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. When the Holy Spirit settled on the Christ, it was God announcing to the world, this is the dawning of a new era. This is the beginning of the new creation. So we must say to the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, I surrender, the Holy Spirit is searching for a place to land. The Holy Spirit is searching for a place where he can begin something new, something fresh, something exciting, and therefore we must surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit. So there in Genesis contrasted with Matthew, we see that in the symbolism of the dove that the Holy Spirit often brings about new beginnings. Now I wanna look at the Holy Spirit found in the song of Solomon. We see, for example, another symbol of the Holy Spirit, the symbol of fire in song of Solomon chapter eight, verses six to seven. The Holy Spirit is represented by fire. And here in the song of Solomon, he is the unquenchable fire of God's love for us. Watch this, place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death. It's jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. It could also be that the Holy Spirit is symbolized in being the seal. Also we see in the song of Solomon, the Holy Spirit represented as wind. He's the sweet and alluring wind that draws two lovers together. 416, it says, awake north wind, rise up south wind, blow on my garden and spread its fragrance all around. Come into your garden, my love, taste its finest fruits. And then we see the dove in the song of Solomon, chapter two, verse 14. And here we see the Holy Spirit's hiding nature. Now the Bible says my dove is hiding behind the rocks, behind an outcrop on the cliff. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is pleasant and your face is lovely. Now, this is not a direct symbol of the person of the Holy Spirit because we know that the song of Solomon represents Christ and his bride, the church. And so this is Christ calling out to the church in this particular verse, if you're looking at the symbolism. But still, as we look at this particular verse, we see something about the dove and therefore about the Holy Spirit, namely that the Holy Spirit has a hiding nature. And here we touch upon the point that I was making earlier, these seasons that we come to in life where God seems like he's a million miles away. Perhaps you once had a thriving prayer life. Perhaps you once had a devotion to the word of God that you felt was right in line with where you needed to be. Perhaps at some point worship was flowing through you. Perhaps at one point you felt momentum to your spiritual growth. You felt connected with God. You sensed his love and power flowing through you and touching people around you. Well, all of us experience seasons, whether it be because of spiritual neglect or tragedy or just life happening, all of us experience these seasons where God seems like a million miles away. We wonder why he isn't speaking like he used to. We wonder why we don't feel him as closely as we used to. And though we don't seek after feelings, it is comforting sometimes to be able to sense the presence of the Holy Spirit all around us. But here we see through scripture that in fact doves do have a hiding nature. Jeremiah chapter 48 verse 28 also reveals this truth. You people of Moab flee from your towns and live in the caves hide like doves that nest in the clefts of the rocks. In the book of Psalms, we see that the Israelites were said to have found treasures in plunder. Among the treasures that they found were doves. Psalm 68 verse 13, even those who lived among the sheepfolds found treasures. Doves with wings of silver and feathers of gold, truly the presence of the Holy Spirit is like a treasure. And sometimes it can feel as though we have to seek out that treasure. Now, I'm not talking about the Holy Spirit's presence leaving you. Jesus said, I will send you another and he will never leave you. He's never going to abandon you. Every true Christian has the Holy Spirit in every season of their life, even in the seasons where they're struggling. But it is also true that there are seasons where the Holy Spirit will hide from you, not his presence, but the sense of his presence. Yes, his presence is with you. Yes, he abides faithfully. No, he's not going to abandon you. And again, I emphasize, no, he's not going to abandon you even when you fail him. He's not like that, you know. He's forgiving and gracious and kind and patient. He's wonderful to us. But still, how should we approach these seasons? What is it about the hiding nature of the Holy Spirit that actually helps us spiritually? I mean, if we could have it our way, every season, every day, every moment, we would sense not just that spiritual sense of his presence, but also the physical weight of that manifested glory. If you're like me, you know that there are moments and seasons where you can literally feel the tangible touch of God upon your physical body. You can sense the weight of his glory. You can sense sometimes like electric currents or the warmth of his presence. And you're just very aware of the physical sense of his presence. And then there's other seasons where though you don't feel him in the physical sense, you are still aware of his abiding presence. You still know he's with you. There's a confidence in his nearness, but then there are those seasons. Those seasons where you don't sense that physical touch of his presence. You don't even sense necessarily the mental sense of his presence, where you acknowledge that his presence is there, but it feels like he's completely abandoned you. And this is the moment where most believers will usually panic, oh my goodness, what did I do wrong? Oh my goodness, has God finally left me? Did my mistakes finally drive away the gentle dove, my friend? I want you to know this about the Holy Spirit's hiding nature. The Holy Spirit never leaves you, but sometimes he hides. Why? It's in his nature to hide. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 45 verse 15, verily thou art a God that hideest thyself, oh God of Israel, the Savior. So these seasons when God doesn't seem to be speaking, these seasons when we don't sense the weight of his glory on our lives, what's happening there? What's going on? What is it about the hidden dove, the precious Holy Spirit? Well my friend, when you can't sense the presence of God, the Holy Spirit isn't leaving you, he's leading you into greater depths. This is something many miss about his nature. This is something that not many know about the Holy Spirit is that he will withdraw, again, not his presence, but the sense of his presence. Why? To incite that spiritual hunger, to cultivate that longing for his presence. David wrote, as the deer pans for the water, so my soul longeth after thee, there is a chase, there is a drawing, there is an alluring, there is a magnetism about his person. And he uses these seasons to cause us to first and foremost, not rely just upon feelings, but to know by faith the practice of his presence. You see, when we first get saved, we're new in the Lord, we're just beginning to grow spiritually and therefore we rely heavily upon feelings and emotions and the sense of his presence. But what he wants us to learn to do is to learn the practice of his presence by faith, to acknowledge, to believe, to be confident in the fact that he's with us even when we don't feel him, to be confident that he is working even when we can't see how. It's in these seasons where our faith is strengthened. Why? Because we can no longer rely upon feelings, we must go completely by faith. How are you ever supposed to grow a muscle that you never use? And so faith is that muscle that is exercised, that is grown as you go through these seasons where the Lord seems distant. And it's in fact in these seasons that the Holy Spirit is doing his greatest work because he's training you in the art of the Spirit. He's showing you how to be aware of his presence despite what you feel or don't feel. He's showing you how to sharpen the spiritual sense so that you don't have to rely just upon the physical, emotional, or mental senses. His hiding nature is how he draws you closer. His hiding nature is how he calls you to higher places. He draws you deeper into the Word. He draws you to dig down deeper in your prayer life. He draws you to experience greater depths of worship. That's the work of the Holy Ghost in those moments, drawing you in those times and in those seasons when God feels distant. You may feel like God is abandoning you. My friend, he's not abandoning you. He's calling you to greater depths. He's not left you alone. He's calling you saying, come up to a higher place. Come and live by faith. Come and know my presence in the Spirit truly. So the Holy Spirit wants to incite that hunger. You know, when we drift away, when we become distracted in this world, when we allow the cares and responsibilities of everyday life to keep our focus off Jesus, he begins to withdraw that sense, not as a punishment, but as a drawing, as a reminder to say, you need my presence. And sometimes we don't always appreciate things until we can no longer sense them or see them. And it is in these moments when the Holy Spirit matures us. It is in these moments when we learn to see him with the eyes of faith by the Spirit. And truly, this is my prayer for you. You may be facing this season now, where it's hard to see him. It's hard to hear him. And you're saying, God, what did I do wrong? Sometimes it's not even that you did anything wrong, but it's that you did everything right and he knows he can trust you in this season. Now he's teaching you, now he's maturing you, now he's growing you. So don't panic and say, what happened? Simply lean in and say, I'll continue to pursue you. The Holy Spirit, the hidden dove is hiding nature. Father, I pray right now for that one receiving this word. And I ask you, precious Holy Spirit, to strengthen that one's faith. Oh, precious Holy Spirit, let them begin to be strengthened in their faith in this season. Remind them by your word that you are with them. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you never abandon us, but that you're drawing us to deeper places. Lord, touch that one watching in the mighty name of Jesus we pray. And I want you to say it because you believe it. Say, amen. Well, I wanna talk to you. I know usually after the prayer, this is where people feel it's time to click out of the video, but just for a second, I want you to stick around and hear this. I want you to get involved with this ministry. And I need your help in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ all around the world through events and media. So I'm asking you to do something sacrificial. I'm asking you to step out and join our cause by helping us to becoming a monthly financial supporter. Will you consider becoming a partner today right now for $10 a month, $30 a month, or even $100 a month, whatever the Holy Spirit puts on your heart? If you're willing to do that, if you're willing to help us continue to spread the gospel around the world and the world truly needs it right now, and you wanna help us see more people saved, healed, delivered, empowered, refreshed, and help them receive impartation, then go right now to davidhernandezministries.com slash partner. Sign up to becoming a monthly ministry supporter today and get involved in this great evangelistic soul-winning work, do it because you love Jesus, do it because you love souls. And also don't forget, if you like this teaching, make sure to leave a like on the video. Don't forget to subscribe to EncounterTV and click that notification bell when you do. And if you enjoyed this teaching, the Holy Spirit, the hidden dove, then I know you're really going to enjoy Holy Spirit, mighty prayer warrior. In that teaching I talk about how the Holy Spirit prays for you.