NO!! I don’t wanna, I’m not gonna and you can’t make me. You’re not the boss of me! In an air stabbing motion, our arms are crossed – swoop swoop, a great blast of breath from our nostrils and there >> that’s that. PERIOD, end of story. Or is it?
How do you know when God is talking to you? Do you know when God is talking to you? When I feel like I should have a better idea I remember that some of our Bible heroes were less than on the ball when God was ready to press them into service. Moses argued with a bush. Samuel? Well, we’ll give Samuel a break because he was a kid and just getting started – but, Eli? Come on. He was a seasoned God-man and it took him three times being visited by Samuel to recognize that it was God speaking.
One of the scriptures given for use for this devotional period is from Jonah. Ah, Jonah. Now there is a guy who heard but chose another path. I could not find a reference that explained why Jonah did not like the people of Nineveh , but the Bible makes it very clear HE DID NOT. He disliked them so much that he was willing to blatantly wave his arm in the air and say -- to God nonetheless -- “Talk to the hand.”
Back to the question -- how do you know when God is talking to you? Words like conscience, free will and gut feeling come to mind. Sometimes we sense that there is a need that someone could really use help. Our “right & wrong o-meter” is dinging wildly, and yet we ignore it and go on about our business. Let’s kick it up a notch. What if the person that needs help is on our Top 10 List of People We Do Not Like? What if we would rather hop a boat to Tarshish or Cincinnati instead of, not just helping, but speaking to, looking at or generally acknowledging this person as a fellow human? We often hide in our warm houses, our moving cars, our church. If by some miracle we mellow enough to stomach a half hearted gesture of good will, we do so KNOWING that our helpee -- our adversary -- will never accept the help or acknowledge what we are trying to accomplish.
But wait, oh, my goodness – what if they did? Could we handle it? I have not seen a modern day story of anyone spending time in the belly of a fish for disobedience, but is it possible that we spend our three days (or longer) in the belly of another monster - guilt? Is guilt another way God is saying, “I told you what I needed and you walked on by.”? Every once in a while I hear God in the distant voice of my mother. “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” “If you can’t say something nice…,” and her spin on the golden rule, “Do unto others….”
This is the age of technology. The age of caller ID. When God calls, don’t let Him get Voice Mail – “Hi this is Steve; sorry I missed your call. Please leave your name, number and a message and I’ll get back to you. Thanks.” BEEEEP! Try hard to recognize the caller, answer, and say “Here I am Lord, send me.”
Steve Matthews
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