This morning I am reminded of God's desire to speak with us! I am reminded of His ability to speak with us in many varied ways. God desires relationship with us, and to have relationship we must have communication that flows in both directions. He is about teaching us to hear His voice, and the many ways He can speak to us. Sometimes He speaks directly through His recorded Word in the Bible, sometimes through others, sometimes through what appears to be circumstances! God can use our imagination, our thoughts, our attention, our dreams, and even our day-dreams to speak to us. He is constantly speaking and He is inviting us to learn to listen to Him.
As a church we happen to be going through a book called "Reset" by Bob Sorge. It is an excellent book that gives very practical ways to encounter the Lord in the place of prayer, which really is the place of communication with Him. If you are interested in growing in your ability to pray, to listen and to hear, this is a great book to start with.
In a related theme, I share the following experience I had this morning. I have learned to hear the Lord in many ways and one of the ways He speaks is through numbers, which often correlate to pages or chapter and verse in my bible. This morning it was like God was highlighting His ability to speak a very specific word.
This morning I woke up early, as I often do, usually hoping I can go back to sleep another couple of times. Before I even turned towards the clock, I had the numbers 329 run through my mind. I don't normally have numbers run through my thoughts as the first thing I think of, so I noticed them. I then turned to the clock and it was 3:29am, exactly. That certainly got my attention. I sometimes have a pretty decent sense of time, but not when I am just waking from a deep sleep, so I figured maybe the Lord was wanting to speak to me, and it had to do with 329.
I was able to go back to sleep after that occurrence and when I got up at 5:15, I was reminded of the numbers 329 and decided to start by reading page 329 in my Bible. In my Bible, it is 2 Kings 18-19, the story of King Hezekiah and Sennacherib's threats against Jerusalem. It is an interesting story, and includes prophecy from Isaiah. I read through it and it didn't seem to move my spirit, other than being a good story of God's deliverance in the face of great difficulty.
Since that didn't seem to be the correct 329, I started checking other 329 combinations, looking for chapter 32 verse 9, or chapter 3 verse 29. As I was going quickly through the books, starting with Genesis, I came to 2 Chron 32 and the title of that chapter is "Sennacherib threatens Jerusalem" and it is the same exact story as what's on page 329 of my paper Bible, just the second recording of it. That caught my attention! One thing I have learned is that when God seems to be saying the same thing twice, it is for a reason, and I try to pay special attention at such times.
Although the section from 2 Kings was good, there were some verses in the Chronicles retelling that grabbed my attention. Here are two verses that stood out to me as Hezekiah encouraged the people in the face of an undefeated enemy army - 2 Chronicles 32:7-8 NIV:
[7] “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. [8] With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said."
Later in that Chapter we see God acting on behalf of His people - 2 Chronicles 32:20-23 NIV:
[20] "King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. [21] And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword."
[22] So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side. [23] Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations."
It seems to me that this message must be important today! We need to know that God sees our situation! We nee to know that if we put our trust in Him, in spite of how things look in natural, God will move and deliver us. He can turn what looks like sure defeat into blessings. He is surely a greater power than any worldly force, and He will fight for us, and save us and bless us. It is right to turn to Him in prayer and ask Him for help, ask Him for deliverance, and ask Him for confirmation from someone else. God wants us to know that He hears us and answers us.
In a continuation of that theme and my pursuing to hear God, I was reading through some of the other chapter 32 entries and I came across Ex 32, which is the story of how Israel quickly abandoned God's ways when Moses was up on the mountain. They built a golden calf and worshiped it. God alerts Moses to the situation and sends him back down the Mountain. One would think that this is about the worst situation in the nation of Israel's history, and that God would respond angrily, and pretty much wash His hands of them. Instead, what I found that it is immediately after this that Moses has the encounter on the Mountainside where He sees God's glory. It is also in immediately following this event that Moses records how God comes and hovers over the Tabernacle in the form of the cloud, and meets with him face to face as a friend. I just find God's response to their sin and HIs next steps surprising. He opens the door to greater revelation of who He is, rather than withdrawing.
Personally for me, the theme of favor, or pressing into God's favor, of getting an upgrade in our revelation of God, and understanding His favor for me seem to be the topics of recent focus. So in addition to the focus on hearing Him in new and varied ways, I also feel like the Lord is continuing to confirm some of the things He has been speaking recently, and it is through the same 329 I heard earlier. God really is amazing!
Lord, I want to press deeper into Your favor and Your provision and revelation. I want to see You move mightily! I want to see Your glory! I want to walk in intimacy and revelation and trust in Your faithfulness. Lord, You are speaking and I am listening as best as I can. Help me to learn to hear You throughout the day! Finally, it is clear that You do not treat us as our sins deserve, but rather have favor on us and save us, and for that I am extremely grateful. You are so good and so amazing.
Thank You Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment