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A Gentle Whisper
Song: Open my heart Oh Lord (3x) I am ready to serve you.
Our present society is fast becoming too noisy and busy to enable people to hear God speak not to talk about making out time to discern what is happening around us. Too many things seem to be calling for attention at the same time so much so that we get confused and most time unable to organise ourselves. One thing however is certain: we can never live a fulfilled and happy life if we do not make out time to always settle and slow down to discern and take decisions. Agreed, the older one becomes the more burdens he must carry; but also such an individual will be constantly faced with so many choices or options that he or she must take decision. The choice of what kind of job to take, the choice of whom to marry and even when to marry, the choice where to live and when to relocate, the choice of what kind of trade to engage in, the choice of what profession to undertake and so many other choices. Prophet Elijah could only hear God speak in a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:12). He never heard God in a great and powerful wind that tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks; neither did he hear God in an earthquake or a fire. What are those earthquakes in your life? Could it be your business? Thought of life partner, one particular need or the other? The fact remain, we must put all these earthquakes aside before we can hear God speak. "Where there is no vision, the people perish…" (Proverbs 29:19). Very true; for how can we survive if we do not know what to do and when to do them? The word of God says: "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge…" (Hosea 4:6). You do not only need this knowledge to survive in your secular responsibilities and challenges, you also need knowledge to run the race to a successful end. St. Paul knew this very well when he said, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge." (Romans 10:2). Our days are packed with so many prophets, prophetess and 'visioners', these people are capitalising on the ignorance and the unwillingness of some many Christians to pay the price of listening to God. They approach these people to know what God is saying about them. God can speak to us through others but we must first know who God is and what he can do. How would you react to a message from a prophet/prophetess telling you that God is about to kill your colleague in the office so that you can be promoted to his/her position? Or that God is about to kill a fellow sister in your fellowship so that you can marry that brother? They promise you freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity. Our Lord is against any prophet that says ‘thus says the Lord’ and in reality the Lord has not spoken. Here is what the Berean Christina did: “As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” (Acts 17:10-12) It is high time we made out time to listen to God. Recall the visit of Jesus to the house of Martha and Mary, the bible records that Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening to all he had to say but Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him (Jesus) and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42). May we choose the only thing that is needed - to be in the presence of the Lord always. Christ taught in parables. Thereby the things of God were made more plain and easy to those willing to be taught and at the same time more difficult and obscure to those who were willingly ignorant. The parable of the sower is plain. The seed sown is the word of God. The sower is our Lord Jesus Christ, by himself, or by his ministers. Preaching to a multitude is sowing the corn; we know not where it will light. Some sort of ground, though we take ever so much pains with it, brings forth no fruit to purpose, while the good soil brings forth plentifully. So it is with the hearts of men, whose different characters are here described by four sorts of ground. Careless, trifling hearers, are an easy prey to Satan; who, as he is the great murderer of souls, so he is the great thief of sermons, and will be sure to rob us of the word, if we take not care to keep it. Hypocrites, like the stony ground, often get the start of true Christians in the shows of profession. Many are glad to hear a good sermon, who do not profit by it. They are told of free salvation, of the believer's privileges, and the happiness of heaven; and, without any change of heart, without any abiding conviction of their own depravity, their need of a Saviour, or the excellence of holiness, they soon profess an unwarranted assurance. But when some heavy trial threatens them, or some sinful advantage may be had, they give up or disguise their profession, or turn to some easier system. Worldly cares are fitly compared to thorns, for they came in with sin, and are a fruit of the curse; they are good in their place to stop a gap, but a man must be well armed that has much to do with them; they are entangling, vexing, scratching, and their end is to be burned, (Hebrews 6:8). Worldly cares are great hindrances to our profiting by the word of God. The deceitfulness of riches does the mischief; they cannot be said to deceive us unless we put our trust in them, then they choke the good seed. What distinguished the good ground was fruitfulness. By this true Christians are distinguished from hypocrites. Christ does not say that this good ground has no stones in it, or no thorns; but none that could hinder its fruitfulness. All are not alike; we should aim at the highest, to bring forth most fruit. The sense of hearing cannot be better employed than in hearing God's word; and let us look to ourselves that we may know what sort of hearers we are. God bless you Evang. Oseh J.B. |