There is an old story about a man who lived near a river that was dangerously rising in flood season. A radio report said that the river was going to rush up and flood the town and that all should evacuate. The man said, “I am religious, I pray, God will protect me!” As the waters rose, a man came by in a boat and shouted, “Hey you in there, come and get in my boat!” The man retorted, “I am religious, I pray, God will protect me!” A helicopter hovered above the house as the loudspeaker told the man to come out and be rescued. He called back “I am religious, I pray, God will take me to safety!’ Well — the man drowned. Standing in Heaven he asked, “God, where were you?” God said, I sent you a radio report, a rescue boat and a helicopter… what are you doing here?
Seven Problems Hearing God:
1. We want God to speak on our terms (when, where and how we want). The Problem might be that I am not listening, while accusing Him of silence, God is not holding out on me! The issue is my listening ear, not His voice speaking!
We have reversed the spelling of God from G-O-D to D-O-G: We think we can set the hoops and He will jump on our command. We say, “Here I am God, it is 11:00 AM on Sunday. I got here on time, and I brushed my teeth! I have football to watch later so let’s get to it. If you want to speak to me, I have done my part. I am here. Don’t mess around now, you have got to make it obvious! Make sure it is right in the beginning of the sermon. Put your message to me right out there, ‘cause I have had a busy week and I have a lot of other things to focus on. Make it memorable and simple. Make it funny and unforgettable!
Maybe I am being too harsh. Perhaps your objection is more, “Well, that was when Jesus was here, but I don’t live then!” Does that mean the Heavens have become silent “declaring the glory of God”? Has the truth of what God is like become too obscure for you to pick out what He is like from the worlds that He has created?
Psalm 19:1 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. 6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.”
2. We want to be able to draw any truth from what God says that takes us in a direction we already want to go! The Problem might be what I draw from the truths God speaks. His purpose is to tell His story and share Who He is with the earth, but we place ourselves at the center of the story. The question isn’t “How will thins help me?” but rather “How will this reveal Him!”
Jesus said “…the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.“
At long last, Jesus admitted to the real problem with the Bible and His message – it is not centered on ME. I am not the main character in this play. I don’t like being second fiddle, I want to be the star. Yet, Jesus says HE is the star. His Father is the author. I am to feel privileged to be in the show at all. I play the role He wants me to have. My time on the stage was chosen by Him, my role was set by Him. My performance is for an audience of those who have gone before, and the angelic world that watches the whole drama (while admittedly playing their roles).
Hebrews 12: 1 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Jesus ran the race ahead of us. His lap was exceedingly painful. His works showed Who He is, but also showed us the road that lay ahead for some of us – His children. It is not destined to all be an easy road. A false Christian message is one that is centered on the BENEFITS of the walk, and not the race’s primary purpose.
3. We want Him to be committed to speak to us, even if we have expressed no commitment to Him! The Problem might be that I don’t really know Him at all. God’s voice won’t be picked out by those who do not believe Him, they aren’t Who He does His talking to!
26 “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
God is under no obligation to speak to those who refuse to believe in Him, and those who refuse to accept that He is the very Creator of all things. If we want Him to speak only when we are trouble, He is under no obligation to do so. He may in grace, but we cannot predict it. He has said that He will not leave us nor forsake us – but only to those who trust in Him truly.
Hebrews 11: 1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. …. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
4. We want Him to offer us the benefits of a relationship with Him (like communication, direction and security) without the relational responsibilities on our end. God offers life and security to those who believe – but we must BELIEVE.
28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.2 Peter 1:2 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”
The assurance of your salvation, and the assurance that you will eternally have life is NOT rooted in the experience you had one day when you came to Jesus and asked Him to be your Savior. Your assurance is rooted in your growth. When you are stagnant, God will withdraw your security and help you FEEL LOST even if you aren’t. I offer no help to you. The words of Scripture ought always to lead us to holiness. Let no doctrine assure you when you do not walk with Jesus. Be afraid and return. He is God, and there is no time to justify your self will before Him. You must stop your rebellion and surrender anew. Do it now – and do not reach into a theological bag of justifications of “back sliding”. You know you aren’t sure now, so why try to keep justifying sin?
5. We want Jesus to say things that fit our preconceived notions. The problem may be that what He is saying forces you to reverse something you have believed. God may explain the truth but it is NOT what you were taught by someone you love. Maybe it has implications in Who you serve and how you serve. Maybe it negates some deeply held understandings of your life.
30 [Jesus said:] “I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
In our hearts we are willing to pick up stones when the Lord of the universe wants us to reach out and forgive someone we choose not to forgive. Maybe we don’t want to KILL Jesus, but we wouldn’t mind if He took His pointy stick somewhere else. We get equally obstinate when He tells us we cannot participate in some activity we really like to participate it. When He tells us we cannot eat or drink something we really want to, even though we know we haven’t gotten control over our eating and drinking and do not please Him. When He chooses a different spouse than the one we’ve been angling to get, when He gives me talents in areas other than the ones most noticed by others … the list goes on and on. I want what I want – but that isn’t what Jesus said. He said that He works as His Father wills, and He speaks the truth. We don’t have to like it – it is no less the truth – even if it doesn’t fit what I think He SHOULD be sayng.
6. We want Jesus’s words to take us where WE WANT TO GO. The problem might be we don’t want what He wants. They believed Messiah was a rescuer that would come to help THEM with THEIR perceived problems of foreign domination. Jesus came to say that Messiah came as the VERY ESSENCE of God (God poured into skin) and wanted to offer them a Kingdom that could only come if they were surrender within. They wanted VICTORY and God wanted SURRENDER!
34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? 35 “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” 39 Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.
While caught up in the words of Jesus that offended them, they were not able to defend against the logical argument He offered them from their own accepted and revered Scriptures. His argument was: 1) The law doesn’t forbid My saying that I am in essence ONE with God; 2) My works are consistent with the revelation of the Father that you say you revere; 3) You have no legal cause to oppose Me – yet you know you do in your hearts!
7. We want unlimited chances to ignore His Word. The problem might be that we argue until God withdraws what He has to say to offer it to another. We dare not presume that there will always be further chances, as our hearts harden each time we resist His truth!
Someone has said: “Many people only want to date Jesus. They don’t want to marry Him.” But I like what Wilbur Rees expressed:
I’d like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a warm cup of milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please.”
40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. 41 Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.” 42 Many believed in Him there.”
God is speaking, are you ready to listen to Him?
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