Have you ever noticed how in the
midst of challenging times some people seem to hear God clearly, while others
say they cannot hear Him? Then there are those who
seem awkward hearing from Him. Then for others God seems silent, disinterested,
even detached from their lives. While some say, there is no point in talking
with God, since He just does His own thing anyway. Then there are those who
maintain that God stopped talking to
people at the end of the New Testament era.
Israel went
through their own challenging times, but they could not see beyond the moment,
see the big picture and hear God. Moses understood this and tried to help them to
hear God and see what was happening. Moses said to Israel,
2 “Remember
how the Lord your God led you through the desert for these forty years,
humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether
or not you would obey His commands. 3 Yes, He humbled you by letting
you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a
food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach
you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every
word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut 8:2-3 NLT).
Jesus in
speaking with Satan used this truth,
“‘No! The
Scriptures say, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that
comes from the mouth of God”’” (Matt 4:4 NKJV)
God spoke to Moses, Israel and Jesus even in the midst of
their challenging times. He also desires to speak to us. Consequently, it has
been said that,
“There is not in the world a kind of
life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with GOD.
Those only can understand it who practise and experience it; yet I do not
advise you to do it from that motive. It is not pleasure which we ought to seek
in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because GOD
would have us.”[1]
He is speaking but are we listening, even when our pain is
yelling? It is possible that He is humbling and testing us to prove our
character, to find out whether or not we will hear and obey His commands. Our
food needs to be hearing every Word that comes from His mouth and then obeying
Him.
Pause in His presence for a
moment and think this over…
[1] Lawrence,
Brother. The Practice of the Presence of
God. (Radford, VA: Wilder Publications, 2008), 39-40.
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