Sitting on the porch I listen to the waves crushing on the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean. I love that sound. Since the Almighty created everything around here and out there (looking at the night skies right now), I believe, that’s another sound representing God’s voice. These waves come in steady, one after the other. So is the whisper of His voice when He speaks to my heart. It comes in waves. Sometimes I hear Him quite distinctively, sometimes I’m not listening. The sounds of God’s creation never stop, whether we listen or not. God’s creation is not silent, and neither is the Lord.
God speaks. He has a voice. But sometimes, for various reasons, our heart is hard of hearing. Take Prophet Jonah for instance who had a job to do for the Lord, but ran away. In the belly of a fish he began to pray. And wouldn’t you know it, he had a close encounter with the Lord in the bowels of a big sea creature. This is where he finally listened – and I believe that’s what unusual circumstances are there for: to get our attention – especially when we purposefully avoid the Lord’s input.
What if we want to hear God’s voice, but all we hear is silence? I believe all of God’s children go through this kind of experience from time to time. It’s tough not to hear from God, but whenever this dry spell happens, it will test our limits and build our character as in Job’s case. With the exception of his life Job had lost everything almost overnight, but he did not lose his faith in God. He announced to the world after he had stood the test (Job 37:5):
“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.”
The Lord’s handwriting is in the skies with lightening for all to see and roaring thunderbolts for everyone to notice: God is very much alive, and He cares. He is not deaf, nor dead, nor asleep, or indifferent. The one who needs to wake up to reality is actually you and me. We need to wake up and face the music. It often takes an unusual crisis to get our attention.
We draw closer to God when we see Him in action. Being saved from death, carried through a disaster and shown the light at the end of a dreadful tunnel, we get to know the Lord in a more personal way. His love is no longer hidden to us but becomes as clear as day. It is like ‘Captain Obvious’ – “Wow! God does love me. I heard of His love, but now I have experienced it”.
God is love. To know that is to know everything.
Thought Of The Day 