The last couple of weeks I’ve been talking to people who think they know better than the Bible, and those who whine about not hearing from God. Just to let you know, I’ve been both places.
I’ve actually said out loud, “I don’t agree with that.” So, too, I’ve complained about not hearing from Him. I’ve been through that OCS I mentioned last week. I’ve said to myself, “I don’t need to read the Bible. I have a good enough grasp of what’s there, I don’t need to.”
How wrong I was.
Starting in the summer I’ve dug a lot deeper into what the Bible teaches, and it has to be the most phenomenal set of manuscripts I’ve ever owned. The interconnectedness of the entirety is beyond anything I’ve imagined. To think I know enough about it is hubris beyond measure.
When I was complaining to my wife about not hearing from God, it never occurred to me to sit down and read His Word. Bringing this back to last week’s OCS comment, “If you don’t think God’s talking to you, pick up His Word and read it.” Maybe He’s waiting there.
There are so many resources. This is my favorite so far. I’ve been reading through three different commentaries, Bible studies about Old Testament characters, and using various online offerings like the Blue Letter Bible, and Bible Gateway.
So my advice to those who don’t hear from God is this: PICK UP HIS WORD AND READ IT! That’s how He talks to the most people most of the time. If you don’t understand what it’s saying, study it. A commentary on the passage giving you trouble will help a lot. There are options both online and in “dead tree” formats.
The very act of working a bit harder to reach God is a great help. Prayer also helps. (I prayed for a couple of years to hear Him, and one day, clear as a bell, He said, “Have you read My word lately?”)
One of the best-known OT prophets was Elijah. One day He got in the face of the king of Israel and told him off. “Dude, you’re worship idols, so it won’t rain until I say so.” Elijah went camping beside a creek for a couple of years, watching it dry up. Then he went and lived with a poverty-stricken widow who’d given up hope. A total of about three and a half years he heard almost nothing from God.
Then one day Elijah heard from God again, and in a dramatic showdown with more than 800 hostile prophets, proclaimed God to the people of Israel. In that process he told off the king again.
He did this all after more than three years of hearing almost nothing from God.
If you’ve heard nothing from God, perhaps He’s preparing you for something great. There’s nothing so loud as a sound after a period of silence. Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days. Elijah was there for three years. I’ve been there for a couple of years myself.
How long have you been there?
What does He have in store for you?
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