Do you listen when God speaks? A parent who raised four children, I know what selective hearing is. My kids could hear plans being made for a fun day trip when Bev and I were whispering in the bedroom but sometimes they could not ‘hear’ their Mom when she was speaking right to their faces. They chose to comprehend what they wanted to hear, engaged their minds with the flow of words when they did not want to miss the message. Selective hearing is a practice of adults, too, especially when it comes to the things of God. From the birth of the nation of Israel all the way to the birth of the Church, the Bible tells of God’s people failing to grasp His message, living willfully even when they knew better. Moses, in the book of Deuteronomy, told of the consequences that would come as result of obedience or the lack thereof.
Some Christians think that because we live in the era of grace, his words no longer apply. I beg to differ! God, as a good and loving Father, has always been gracious. And, He is also just and holy. When He calls us into His family, extending His favor to us, He also calls us to a responsive, listening life. When we respond to Him willingly and wholeheartedly, we find blessings of peace and wholeness, we live in the shelter of His love, kept even as the storms of life blow over and around us.
Moses tells the people of God about this. “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God: Your towns and your fields will be blessed." (Deuteronomy 28:1-3, NLT) "The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul." (Deuteronomy 30:10, NLT) Don’t cheapen that promise by turning it into a kind of ‘let’s make a deal’ proposition. God is not speaking of a simple ‘if/then’ contract here! He is inviting us into a holy covenant, an amazing life that experiences daily grace.
Some of you may be wondering if I’ve sold out to the prosperity Gospel which falsely teaches that Christians should all enjoy health and wealth, if they have enough faith to receive it. The short answer is, No! But, I am convinced by the Word that those who love the Lord, their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength find the "path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter ‘till the full light of day." (Proverbs 4:18, NIV) Living, as we do, in a fallen world full of sin, we still go through earthquakes and hurricanes, deal with temptation, and have bodies that age and break but as children of God we can experience even those difficulties differently. We do not fall into despair and bitterness. We wait for the mercy of our Savior and are comforted by His sweet Presence!
Paul’s life was surely not one without suffering or difficulties, yet he says, "Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him." (2 Corinthians 3:18, The Message)
The paradox is that we must not serve God just to gain the promise of His blessing. That is religious duty and is soon turned into the same deadening kind of life that so infuriated Jesus Christ when he saw it in the Pharisees. It consciously and unconsciously is about minimal compliance to God’s demands that will keep the blessings coming. What a terrible misunderstanding and abuse of the Lord! Go deeper! We receive His grace and give ourselves to love Him, both passionately and intentionally. When we enter the Divine Romance, He leads us and even the dark days are made, by His hand, a source of blessing and grace. This I believe with all my heart!
Are you listening to the Spirit, obedient to the Word? Are you delighting in His way, dying to Self, discovering grace on grace?
Here’s a word from the Word. Will you receive and live in the promise?
"For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." (2 Corinthians 4:6-9, NIV)
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NIV)
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Shall I take from Your hand Your blessings,
Yet not welcome any pain?
Shall I thank You for days of sunshine,
Yet grumble in days of rain?
Shall I love You in times of plenty,
Then leave You in days of drought?
Shall I trust when I reap a harvest,
But when winter winds blow then doubt?
Are You good only when I prosper,
And true only when I'm filled?
Are You King only when I'm carefree,
And God only when I'm well?
You are good when I'm poor and needy!
You are true when I'm parched and dry!
You still reign in the deepest valley!
You're still God in the darkest night!
Oh let Your will be done in me,
In Your love I will abide.
Oh I long for nothing else as long
As You are glorified.
So quiet my restless heart,
Quiet my restless heart,
Quiet my restless heart in You.
As Long As You Are Glorified
© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (c/o Integrity Music, Inc.)
Mark Altrogge
CCLI License No. 810055
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