Things God Whispers 2

"Just relax!" If I had listened to those words at the beginning maybe things would have turned out differently or at least I would have saved myself from a lot of grief. Looking back, I know that they were from God, but somehow I let my emotions take over and I didn't relax, I didn't surrender. I just let myself get more worked up. It's interesting how sometimes you can think that you're walking in obedience and your temper tantrums are justified, but they never really are.

Those words were a second invitation that God had given me to surrender to him in a certain area of my life. The first time he had asked me a question, "Are you willing to....?" My response had been, "Yes, but..." As a friend actually pointed out to me, that "but" says it all. "Buts" are never words of surrender. I mean when we read the story of Abraham, do we hear him saying, "Yes God, I will sacrifice my son, but only if..."? No, he just began to take the steps to do it. Of course we are not told of the conversations that he had with himself and God along the journey, but we do not see him throwing any tantrums and trying to manipulate God out of his command. And what do we see from God? It is a most gracious and merciful response of provision. That should encourage me to listen next time I think I know better than God.

The most interesting part of this whole thing for me has been in reflecting on what God has spoken to me regarding this area of my life in the past. Almost exactly four years ago I very clearly surrendered to God. In response he gave me this word to hold onto: "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided." That sentence is straight from that same story of Abraham's surrender to God. The words are a reminder to me of God's gracious provision when he asks us to do something that doesn't seem to make sense or isn't exactly what we want. What it tells me is this--God's got my back if I would just cooperate with him! I hear him whispering, relax, just relax. This time I'm saying, ok!

Things God Whispers 1

"Do not be afraid!" The words were so unexpected that I knew that they had to be from God. I had asked him to give me a word for a particular area of my life and his answer jumped back at me. They were startling words because I didn't think I was afraid. But why am I surprised that God knows me better than I know myself?

Over the next several weeks those words became my gage for making decisions regarding what to say or do or what not to say or do. It's amazing how many times I found myself motivated by fear and had to change course so that I would not be acting out of that fear.

The more I dwelt on this phrase, the more my fear subsided. The more I allowed it to guide my thoughts, words, and behaviors, the more I saw my fear replaced by courage and confidence. And guess what? Usually my fears were quite unfounded. Things often turned out a lot better than I expected.

The phrase "Do not be afraid!" is repeated throughout the Scriptures. We see God encouraging Joshua with it as well as Joseph and Mary and others. It's interesting, but usually it's because something big, something significant is about to happen. God is up to something different and he wants his children to be prepared, to have something to come back to and remember when times get tough. I'm not really sure what big thing God might be up to in my life. It might just be healing me from a significant amount of fear, but whatever it is I want to listen and I don't want to be afraid!