Part 4 (1/2)
Some of the things that are yours in Christ are peace, righteousness, joy, strength, hope, love, power, wisdom, prudence (good management), provision to meet your needs, heaven, and many other things too numerous to mention. Expect great things in life because we serve a great G.o.d! Listen and obey each step of the way and you will surely enjoy a life worth living.
CHAPTER 16.
Listen for G.o.d's Still, Small Voice Someone once told me of a one-act play with three characters-a father, a mother, and a son who had just returned from Viet Nam-sitting at a table talking. The play lasts thirty minutes, and they all get their chance to talk. There's only one problem: no one listens to the others.
The father is about to lose his job. The mother who once held just about every office in their church is now being pushed aside by younger women. The son struggles with his faith. He had gone to war, saw chaos and death, and is now bewildered about life.
At the end of the play, the son stands and heads toward the door. ”You haven't heard a word I've said” is his parting remark, as he walks out of the room. The parents look at each other, and the mother asks, ”What did he mean?”
What the parents didn't get-and the audience obviously did-is that the son struggled to believe in a loving, caring G.o.d. Every time he tried to explain, one of the parents interrupted with something the parent wanted to say. The soldier needed to hear from G.o.d. Hoping his mother or father would be the channel through which G.o.d would speak, he went to them. However, they were not available for G.o.d's use because they were not quiet enough to hear Him. All three of them were so distraught and noisy; they all left the same way they came. What might have happened had they really listened to one another then quietly prayed and waited on G.o.d? I am sure the outcome would have been very different and much more rewarding.
In 1 Kings 19, we read of the deeply committed prophet Elijah, who defied the wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel for years. The big moment came on Mount Carmel when Elijah destroyed 450 prophets of Baal. Later, when Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him, he ran away, apparently in terror.
Elijah went into a cave to hide out. He must have been worn out by the powerful events. Suddenly the man was alone, with no crowds, no one trying to kill him, and no one to talk to. When G.o.d asked him what he was doing there, Elijah spoke of his zeal for Him. Then he told G.o.d the children of Israel had gone astray, killing prophets, ”And I, I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (v. 10). G.o.d told Elijah, ”Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord” (v. 11).
G.o.d brought strong winds, falling rocks, an earthquake, and fire. I think that was the way Elijah expected G.o.d to appear-in the miraculous and powerful. But the writer tells us G.o.d wasn't in those things. ”And behold, the Lord pa.s.sed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice (vv. 1112).
As long as Elijah sought the dramatic, he didn't hear G.o.d. But when he pulled back and listened for the inner voice, the soft, non-demanding voice of the Holy Spirit, Elijah could communicate with G.o.d.
What kind of voice are you expecting to hear from G.o.d? Will you recognize the still, small voice when you hear it? Do you take time to be quiet and just listen? Ask Him to help you listen most of all in the soft stillness for the quiet ways in which He speaks.
Do you take time to be quiet and just listen?
CHAPTER 17.
My New Start On a Friday morning in February 1976, I was driving to work and feeling discouraged. My husband and I had an argument before I left for work-something that happened quite often. I was quite disheartened because little in my life seemed to be working. Although I was making every effort to be what I thought was a good Christian by attending church and following their rules, none of it seemed to be working. I was not experiencing the peace and joy promised in the Scriptures.
Dave was an elder at our church, and I was the first and only woman at that time to serve on the church board. Helping make decisions in the church was extremely frustrating because of all the bureaucracy. Often it took several meetings just to decide a small, almost insignificant matter. The church was filled with people vying for positions, and I saw very little real love.
Dave and I were both on the Evangelism Team, who one night a week went door-to-door telling others about Jesus. Our life revolved around the church. Our children went to school there. We joined all the right social clubs and sports teams and attended all the church dinners. We thought we had good friends, but I was soon to discover otherwise.
I felt I needed change in my life, but I didn't know exactly what I needed. I was searching, but I didn't know what I was searching for. Out of sheer frustration and desperation that morning in the car, I cried out to G.o.d. I told Him I felt I couldn't go on any longer with the way things were. I remember saying, ”G.o.d, something is missing. I don't know what it is, but something is missing.”
I was so spiritually hungry I was ready to receive anything as long as I knew it was from G.o.d. I was like a starving person. People can be hungry but still picky about what they eat; however, if they get hungry enough, they will eat whatever is put before them. Because of my great spiritual hunger, I was totally open to G.o.d at that point in my life.
To my surprise I heard the audible voice of G.o.d that morning in my car. He called my name and spoke to me about patience. From that moment, my heart filled with faith and I knew with certainty G.o.d was going to do something about my situation. I didn't know what He would do or when, but I knew He was about to move in my life.
On Fridays after work, I had my hair done. Friday evenings, Dave and I always went bowling as part of a league. On that Friday late afternoon, I drove home from the beauty shop, turning off Highway 270 onto the Gravois exit to go to Fenton, the St. Louis suburb where we lived. As I sat in the car at a red light, I felt my heart fill with faith about what G.o.d was going to do. Even though I had no idea what it would be, I began to thank Him for it.
At that very moment, Jesus filled me with the presence of the Holy Spirit in a way that I had never before experienced. I didn't know what was taking place, but I certainly knew G.o.d manifested Himself in a different and powerful way. The best way I can describe my feeling at that moment is to say it was as if someone poured me full of liquid love. The experience affected my behavior. I was peaceful, happy, excited, and easy to get along with. I felt as if I loved everything and everyone.
I remember driving past a field of weeds and thinking how beautiful they were, simply because I knew G.o.d made them. Everything G.o.d had anything to do with looked beautiful to me. People I hadn't wanted to be around before suddenly seemed pleasant and likeable to me. I was actually the one who was different, but when we change, everyone and everything else seems to us to have changed. After that experience with G.o.d, my behavior changed to the extent that people began asking me what happened. All I knew to tell them was that G.o.d was wonderful. My new enthusiasm seemed to start rubbing off on others, and before long I was teaching a Bible study at work.
If you are not satisfied with your relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d, there is always more to know about Him. We are to seek the Lord, not an experience, and He alone decides how and when to manifest His presence in our lives. He deals with each of us individually, but He does promise that if we seek Him, we will find Him. If we ask the Father to give us the Holy Spirit in a greater measure, He will do it.
I started that day feeling as if everything had come to a discouraging end. But that night, I went to bed knowing I was at a place of new beginnings. That is how G.o.d is. He often moves suddenly in our lives. G.o.d is faithful and ever true to His word (see Hebrews 10:23). He is no respecter of persons-what is available to one is available to all. G.o.d may not answer each of us exactly the same way, but He will answer our prayers and meet our needs.
We are to seek the Lord, not an experience, and He alone decides how and when to manifest His presence in our lives.
Our seeking must be sincere and we should always be ready to make a deeper commitment. When that is the case, G.o.d will move and send His Holy Spirit to touch each of us in a special way. Ask and believe by faith that G.o.d will do something wonderful. While you wait for Him to do it, thank Him, and offer Him praise. Open yourself up to Him and tell Him you want everything He has for you.
What are you pursuing in life? Is it money, position or popularity? I encourage you to make the pursuit of G.o.d your number one goal in life. If you seek Him with your whole heart you will find Him. If you seek Him sincerely He will reveal Himself to you. One touch or one word from G.o.d can change your life forever.
CHAPTER 18.