To navigate the world around us, believers must be able to hear His voice.
It’s never, ever been God’s desire that we only “hear” God through a priest or our pastor. He desires to have a personal relationship with each one of His kids. He wants us to know Him…and when we do know Him, He wants us to listen. Truly listen and obey. Our love for Him should be so firm and unwavering that when we hear Him say anything, we believe the best of Him…we trust that He wants the best for us and will only lead us where He has gone before us. Jehovah Shammah-God is there.
But if we’re honest, I think many of us don’t believe that.
Take a look at the Israelites again…
But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen My glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to My voice. Numbers 14:21-22
This was written right after the time we spoke of yesterday…when the Israelites were full or fear, instead of faith, after sending men to inspect the Promised Land. I’m struck right now, as God is saying to me, “Lisa, when I give you a glimpse of the future, I’m asking for you to agree with it. I want your agreement.” Yes, Lord…help my first response to everything You show me, to always be, “Yes”.
Anyway, back to the original thought. The Israelites seemed to continually show their willfulness because what happened next is truly unbelievable…
When Moses reported the Lord’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief. Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. “Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us.” Numbers 14: 39-40
Seriously, they got scared and didn’t want to go into the Promised Land, so God told them they never would. Then the next day, they stubbornly tried to go anyway. They always seem so spoiled and entitled to me…
Then I consider us now…how spoiled and entitled are we still?
Hmmm. There’s a lot to chew on today. It can be hard to take an honest look at ourselves, but it is always worthwhile.
What if, from now on, we decide to believe that God always has our best in mind. That way, no matter what He tells us to do, we can always say, “Yes”. This “Yes” can be a constant knee-jerk response because our hearts truly believe He is good. All the time.
When I made the decision to always say, “Yes” to God…so much in my life changed. Stress fell away. Expectations of goodness increased. Life felt more aligned with Him. It’s so worth it.
Yes, we must learn to hear His voice, but secondly…and no less important, is the fact that we must also learn how to simply obey Him as well. Today is a great day to start.
365 Days in the Presence 