Month: September 2016

God calls us—but are we listening?

God is always calling to us, like he called to Israel:

I have spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people, who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts. (Isaiah 65:2)

He was calling to them but they weren’t listening. Are we listening?

In our culture we race through our days in a blur of activity, and truthfully, haven’t we heard others and even ourselves say, “I don’t have time for ….” We don’t have time for reading the Bible. No time for prayer. No time for … God. We “walk in the way which is not good, following (our) own thoughts.” And God calls to us, but too often we aren’t listening.

Then enters something unwanted, that slows us down, even stops us in our tracks. There is nothing like abject fear, pain, or a sense of powerlessness to drive us to our knees to cry out for help from Someone who is not overwhelmed by any of those things that can and do overwhelm us.

I wrote these words in the opening to Lesson 5 of the Bible Study Guide for Brokenness to Beauty. The Bible study is still in the writing stages, to be published next year.

After looking for the address to send my friend Marsha a card to encourage her as she goes through a seriously rough patch of life, I went to her blog and started reading. She has a gentle way about her and depth of insight from the Lord, for she walks with him and has cultivated a listening, servant’s heart.

I want to share this particular blog post, The Power of Silence, with you today. I hope you will not just read it and go on your way. I hope you’ll take the time to listen closely and let the Lord challenge you. I believe Marsha’s message is especially timely for us today.

Read her post here: http://www.marshasmusings.com/blog/the-power-of-silence

In my last post I shared from a journal I started back in 1995, a few months after we moved to West Virginia to start our work in community development, serving the people of McDowell County. Earlier in that year I had begun reading through the Bible, taking my time, absorbing not only the magnitude of the span of history I was reading about, but also pondering the depth of what was written. I wrote:

“As I read I realized how little I truly understand and grasp of the spiritual realm. To ‘walk’ through these pages of Holy Writ is an exercise in humility. It helps me put things into perspective.”

Today, in 2016, I still feel that way about the Bible! As I now write a Bible study guide to accompany my book, Brokenness to Beauty, I am constantly reminded when I read a verse or passage of Scripture, how amazingly relevant and applicable it is to our lives today.

From my journal:

“One of my most favorite passages is in Exodus 34:5-8. Here God fulfilled Moses’ demand/request to see God. Though he only saw God’s “backside” because of his great glory, the LORD proclaimed himself to Moses:

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.’ Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.

This just struck me as so powerful! This is who God is. He himself declared it. It is quoted almost directly, in part, in a couple of psalms. I’m sure I’ll see it quoted in other books of the Bible as I read through it (I have).”

This passage, in which God tells Moses who he is and reveals as much of his glory as a human being can bear and still live, is to me one of those pinnacle moments in God’s revelation of himself to mankind. He declares who he is and what he is like, then throughout Scripture we witness how he proves it by his actions.

Compassionate and gracious. Slow to anger. Abounding in lovingkindness. Abounding in truth. He keeps lovingkindness for thousands. He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin. But he will mete out judgment for the guilty.

Think on these truths about God. May we make haste and bow low in worship of this Awe-inspiring God, as Moses did! Then get up and serve him faithfully the rest of our days.