God Is Not Quiet

God does not sulk around or let His children cry in the dark looking for Him. Is that what Love does? No it is not. What He does is ask us to listen for Him in a myriad ways. A flower reminds us of Him. We see Him in the faces of our Christian friends and family. We see Him in the joy of work well done and of relaxing afterwards in front of the fire. All good things are from the Father above. We hear Him in a Bible story that reminds us of something or gives us new insight. We hear Him in circumstances. We hear Him in the memories of our lives. And sometimes we hear Him directly, but these other things speak of Him, speak from Him, even in the dark. And when He doesn’t show up? Then something better is coming. Look at Martha: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died!” But when Jesus did come then something better happened. The same thing with the Crucifixion itself! Jesus sure came back, didn’t He? I guess!

The Still, Small Voice

As we learn to listen in all circumstances and in all ways, our faith grows. We are stronger. We are exercising our faith muscle, our spiritual ones. And don’t make any mistake: we are war. My son and I were watching a T.V. show – House – where one of the characters said that God often lets His chosen ones suffer. The T.V. doctor was appalled, but I turned to Alex and said, “You know, that’s true. We’re being trained to fight, and that takes work and sacrifice. But it’s worth it.” Suffering in this world is like spiritual bootcamp and military campaigns. Not everyone wants to hear this, but it’s true. This world  is one giant spiritual battle! Learning to listen to God in a variety of circumstances, people, and ways builds our strength and lets us hear God over the enemy’s jamming signals. We are strong in Christ!