Along with that let's ask a question that always seems to plague us Christians: Is that really God speaking? When things turn upside down and mayhem strikes, how do we know if it is or isn't God saying: stop going that way. Turn around. It's time to quit?
I think of Paul and Silas when they were deterred by the Holy Spirit from entering the province of Asia-now roughly Turkey in our time period. Do you remember that? Acts 16: 6-8. After how many attempts of trying to entering the province did he conclude it wasn't meant to happen?
The Holy Spirit takes me now to Ephesians 2:20. I am reminded of how we as Christians today are built upon the apostles and prophets who are the foundation of which Christ Jesus is the cornerstone. We are a house being fitted together along with them. We are all in this together.
Have you ever wondered how much longer it takes to finish building a house after it storms? I know I have. I can just imagine the level of frustration from the contractors and all the parties involved. I can imagine their frustrated faces as they have to look at how much they are set back. Things are blown out of place, boards are wet and mushy....it's just a hot mess!
However, no matter how much damage has now cost them, if the job is that important to them, they will finish! They do not stop! They may have to wait it out until things dry, but they work with what they can with the materials the can.
The Holy Spirit now takes me to Proverbs 3. We have all heard this before-"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your understanding...." We say it in church, in Bible Studies, at conferences, at camp, everywhere. Immediately, I take this deep sigh because before I even finish the chapter my mind is like "alright check-list time....let's see where I fall" although my prideful self is already like "I am assuming an A- at the least." But that silly little thing called humility is like, "Ehh let's take an honest inventory here." I'm like "okay...okay..." I'm reading right and I don't even finish that well-known verse but am already like, "shoot I blew it." Hmmm yeah let's see....yup right there...'submit ALL of your ways to Him....honor God with you FIRST FRUITS....cherish wisdom and knowledge more than ANYTHING." I came out with C....maybe a D.
So what do I...what do we do then?-You ever read scripture and are like that? You get the jest of what it's saying...or some what anyways and are like, "so now what?"
At the time of this devotion, I was waiting for my vacation to start...although I was already on vacation. You ever been there?! Yeah it sucks. I had booked this week in California with a friend to start looking for places to live due to starting grad school at Biola soon. But here we were with delayed flights, then cancelled flights, technology errors, bank transfers not going through, short on cash, people looking down us because we were young, hotels not taking our discount because we didn't have a coupon...it was a terrible start.
I couldn't help but laugh and try to stay positive...for my friend's sake at least. But in the midst of that (I'll call it like it was) fake positivity there were numerous questions going through my mind: Was this all really just circumstance or was it God? Was He protecting us from something or correcting us? Was I really to move to Cali or were those tiny voices in my head that I have been hearing for months right: "You aren't going. This isn't the place for you. You don't belong there."
It sounded like the Devil...but like in Paul's situation, those voices could have very much have been from the Holy Spirit. So how could I tell? I had to research what happened in Paul's case.
It turned out that Paul just wasn't allowed to go to those parts at that particular time. In fact the seven churches that Paul writes to in the book of Revelation were in this providence.
So how do we know if the Holy Spirit is saying to keep going or to turn around? How do we as Christians discern this? I still didn't have a clear answer. The answer had to be somewhere in all of this. So I went back. The verse in Ephesians then got me thinking, "How did our forefathers in the faith do it? How were they able to discern God's voice from their own and the world's in a time period were the scriptures weren't even written and distributed on the scale it is today? How did the prophets get by with speaking on God's behalf so confidently when they were a lot of times despised and faced trouble?
That's where a new in-depth study begins: the story of Elijah. It begins in 1 Kings 17.
It's a story of rough starts, starvation, death. But it's also a story of hope, miracles, and life. I encourage you to read it.
I couldn't help but note the statements that the 'Word of God appeared' to Elijah, how confident he was, how God may speaks differently to people, how God says something that we interpret to only have meaning but in which He holds several.
It all got me to think what if God never really answers with a "no" to our questions/prayers but only when those things are sin? What if He really answers with just a "yes" or "wait?"
"God, I need that promotion." I may or may not get the promotion, but if not maybe something else in my life that needed that "promotion" more.
"God, I need this to heal." I may or may not be healed, but maybe my faith was.
"God, I need this to work out." It may or may not work out, but maybe it will when you least expect it.
The Word says in Psalm 84: 11 that He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly. And in Romans 8:28 it says that He works all things together for those who love Him and called according to His purpose.
Prayer is such a powerful thing. Talking with God is such a powerful thing. We hold so much power in our hands, in our bodies, in our words, and spirit as a Believer. If only as Believers we would drew near to the one we believe in more!
That's how the ancients knew. That's how they could tell. God's voice was "painfully clear" as Andy Stanley would phrase it, because they were so close to God. You know Elijah was so close to God that he didn't even taste death but was rather taken up in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11-12)! Powerful stuff!
So maybe instead of asking after how many times of bad things happening should I give up, perhaps I should be asking after how many times I should give in to the Father?
When's the last time you gave into the Father?
Matthew 7:7-12 New International Version (NIV)
Ask, Seek, Knock
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
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