Samuel answered, "Speak,
for Your servant hears." —1 Samuel 3:10
{CHAMBERS} “[…] I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by
the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. […] Have I
disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a
command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. […] The goal of
my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will
always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am
united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of
hearing. […] What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It
is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas
of my life. […] The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for
Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of
hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become
deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I
must do.”
{ELGIN} Have you noticed that Paul spent
most of his time telling us about what we should be and not what we should not
be? The epistles in the New Testament
are replete with admonitions about the problems with our old nature and encouragement
to pursue our new nature. It’s a daily
struggle for us to keep our focus on God and not ourselves. I received a call from a friend who told me
that a loved one was about to pass and I could hear the great sorrow in his
voice. Like the disciples in the storm
or Peter walking on the water … when trouble comes, our first response is often
self-reliance … the reality of an impossible situation in the face of our
inability to overcome it. That is where
my friend was … is … so what to do? I
pointed him to Jesus. I reminded him of
God’s love and power and sovereignty. Of
the peace that passes understanding when we find ourselves in impossible
situations. That peace is not found
through denial, but by faith. Listen,
there have been, are and will be circumstances that will overwhelm us if we are
depending only upon our wits to navigate through this life. Speaking spiritual truth to a lost person is like
speaking a foreign language to them. Hearing from God in times of trouble is
impossible for them … but His voice will be drowned out for Christians if we are focused
on finding a solution on our own. Our fear will prevent us from exercising our faith. What problems are you facing today that seem
like giants that make you feel like a small insect or a stormy sea that is
tossing you about? Trust God. (Ephesians
3:20-21) “Now to Him who is able [and ready and willing] to do exceedingly
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in
us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever
and ever. Amen.”
No comments:
Post a Comment