There are times when its a major struggle to open my spiritual eyes…
open my mind….
open my heart…
to the truth….
to a different reality – God’s reality.
Sometimes I can be just like Elisha’s servant in the Bible who was afraid of the huge enemy army which surrounded the city they were in. Elisha wasn’t afraid. He knew something the servant didn’t know. Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so he may see.” 2 Kings 6: 17.
And when the Lord opened the servant’s spiritual eyes, he looked up and saw the hills around Elisha full of horses and chariots of fire. God’s army.
Elisha was not worried – he knew the truth. God had his back and there was no cause for alarm. Elisha understood and trusted in the power and faithfulness of his Father God.
His eyes were open.
When my eyes are open, I can see God moving around me. I can feel the strength he gives me to face each challenge that comes my way. I can rest in the knowledge that he has his army fighting my battles and he is working all things out for my good. I can see his light guiding me towards the next step of my journey.
Just like with Elijah, God doesn’t speak to me in a terrible blast of flying rocks or in an earthquake or in a fire. “”The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was no in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was no in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” 1 Kings 19:12
God often speaks to me in a whisper – a faint breeze of truth and light that flits through my mind. I have to stop, concentrate and reach out to catch it.
If I’m not careful, it’s gone.
If I’m not purposefully opening up my spiritual eyes and mind, the spark moves on. And I’m left wandering, ‘When God is going to answer my prayer? When will I see him move?’
Do you ask yourself these questions? Are you listening for his whispers?
When I am quiet,
when I am focused,
when I don’t let distractions derail my time with God, I hear him loud and clear.
God’s Word is alive – he will underline passages (you wouldn’t see it but I do), he will change the font of a sentence to bold to get my attention or he will read the words to me in my head to make sure it’s his voice I hear, not my own or anyone else’s.
There are situations where he simply opens up my eyes to how he has already answered my prayer. He has taken care of the issue and moved on. Keep up, Judy!
That’s when I realize how much I miss when I’m not quiet,
when I’m not ‘zoned in” enough to hear the whispers and feel his breeze of truth ruffling the pages of my Bible.
It’s hard to understand. Dying seems like such a permanent thing here on earth.
But it’s not permanent. My death on earth is when my body stops functioning, but my soul – the core of who I am – does not die. Your soul doesn’t die, either. Our souls live on – eternally in heaven if we have accepted salvation through Jesus or eternally separated from God in hell if we aren’t saved.
As I reach the fall season of my life, my body reminds me daily that it has a specific shelf life and there will be an end. I have already started my eternal life – this first part is on earth, the second part will be my forever home with my Father. I’m amazed at how many people call these man-made shelters we live in here on earth their ‘forever home’. Not me – my forever home is much, much better than this one and it’s waiting for me when this part of my journey ends.
The prophet Elijah is one of two people in the Bible whose bodies didn’t die. Elijah and Elisha were walking together when, “suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” 2 Kings 2:11.
I would love to go to heaven that way – now you see me, now you don’t! But I believe my journey home is going to be a lot less dramatic. When I breathe my last breath, Jesus will be holding my hand and he will walk my soul into heaven with him, leaving my body behind.
No chariots of fire.
No whirlwinds.
Just joy.
I will finally be in my forever home.
Thank you for preparing a place for me, Abba Father.
I’ve gone to a great seminar or a camp or a retreat – feeling more and more motivated as the event progressed. I’m on the mountaintop – very close to God! Right on track! Ready to tackle the world! Fired up to make my dreams come true!
You get the point.
And then I come back to reality. I have to face the real world – disappointments and distractions and disillusions. The people and problems and various perspectives drain away my enthusiasm. I am no longer on the mountaintop – now I’m in the valley.
If you’ve been there with me, we are all in good company. In 1 Kings, Elijah the prophet orchestrated an epic confrontation on a mountaintop with 850 pagan prophets. I can’t believe this story hasn’t been made into a major movie because it has tons of drama and great visuals. God sent fire down from heaven to burn up Elijah’s sacrifice and even dry up all the water around the altar. The pagan priests slashed themselves trying to get the attention of their gods and then they were all slaughtered. All of this violence would fit right in with our ‘action movies’ today.
What a mountaintop experience for Elijah!
But then Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life and he crawled under a bush, praying that God would take his life.
Have you ever felt like crawling under a bush? I have. I have ‘crawled under a bush’ and wanted to stay there….. forever.
Instead of taking Elijah’s life, God sent an angel to feed him and care for him. God still sends angels to us today when we’re in a valley – often human angels – to love us and care of us.
Then God told Elijah to go back up on the mountaintop so he could get close to God. Because God does not often talk to us through the powerful wind or the earthquake or the fire. God usually whispers.
When you and I come down off the mountain into a valley of disappointment and confusion, God says the same thing to us – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew11:28.
As I seek God when I’m in a valley and draw near to him, he wraps his arms around me and whispers his truth and love into my mind. This is where I find peace.
God is never tired, he is never impatient, he is never distracted, he is never busy.
We are made in God’s image – little glimpses of him show up in each of us.
But he is not like us.
This fact brings me a lot of peace and confidence. I desire to be more like Jesus. I am eternally grateful that he is not like me. He has none of my weaknesses or failings.
Sometimes God tell us about his emotions in the Bible – anger, sadness, and joy. All of his emotions are perfect – for the right reason. They are not like our emotions which are self-centered and can often cause us to say and do wrong things.
When Elijah mocked the priests of Baal in 1 Kings, he was trying to point out the godlessness of their gods. When Baal didn’t respond to their requests, Elijah said, “Shout louder! Surely he is a god. Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 1 Kings 18: 27. This kicked the Baal prophets into a frenzy of shouting louder and slashing themselves with swords and spears. They often did this trying to get a response from Baal.
I grimace when I imagine this scene of four hundred and fifty bleeding prophets of Baal – crying out to a manmade statue. Looking for answers. Looking for hope.
How futile!
How wrong!
How lost.
When I take a look at the world which surrounds me today with overwhelming violence and lies and confusion, I can say the same thing –
How futile!
How wrong!
How lost.
Jesus came to bring his light of truth, grace and salvation to everyone who would believe. He is the only answer.
He lives within each believer and he has commissioned each of us to be his light in our part of this dark and broken world.
Dear Father, Please help us shine your light brightly right where we live, work and play.
How big is my God? How much does he want to bless me?
God stopped me this week as I read the story in the Bible of the widow whose son was going be taken as a slave because her husband had debts he didn’t pay before he died. She asked Elisha for help saying she had nothing left except a small jar of olive oil.
Elisha said, ” Go around and ask your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” 2 Kings 4: 3 – 4. She did exactly what Elisha said and she just kept filling the jars until they were all full. The oil stopped flowing when her last jar was full. Then she sold the oil to pay her debts and had enough money left over to live on.
Now that I know the end of the story, my automatic response is – too bad she didn’t get more jars! Then she could have blessed others as well through this miracle that happened to her.
Did you go there? It was great that she had enough money to live on but how much more did God have for her if she had had a bigger view of her God?
And then I wonder how many times God was willing to bless me abundantly but I didn’t bring enough jars? I didn’t bring enough faith? Enough trust?
How often do I short-cut God’s attempts to lavish love and care on my life because I don’t ask?
The message I’ve been consistently receiving lately from God is that there are some mountains he will move if I will boldly ask. He’s stirring up a wind of his Spirit that he is inviting me to take part in if I will ‘bring enough jars’.
Have I shared with you that God has asked me to write a book and share my experiences of surviving the death of my son who was a Phoenix Police Officer killed in the line of duty 6 years ago? Writing a book is a new mountain for me to climb. In obedience, I have started it and I’m counting on God to guide me to the end.
Nothing is impossible for my Father God so I am boldly asking him to write this book through me – telling the story that he has been writing in my life these last 6 years – and I’m expecting to watch God-sized things happen.
We all have things we are committed to – things we spend a lot of time and energy on along with a big chunk of our money. Things like careers, houses, cars, sports, shopping, the latest gadgets and video games fill our hours, leaving little or no room for a relationship with God.
If we lived back in Biblical times, it would be said that we are a slave to these things. We choose who we serve and when we put anything above God in our priorities, there are negative results.
King Rehoboam, the king of Judah, led his people in turning away from the One True God to serve idols – all kinds of idols. Since the people were unfaithful to God, God let King Shishak of Egypt capture Judah. The people then realized their sin and God saw. As a good father, he let them pay the consequence of their sin which meant the King of Egypt became their king but God promised to give them deliverance soon.
In 2 Chronicles 12:8, God said, “They will, however, become subject to him (the King of Egypt), so they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”
When we choose something other than God to be slaves to, we also pay consequences, such as – large debt, broken relationships and lack of purpose and meaning in our lives. When we turn back to God, he promises to deliver us from this misguided slavery. It may take a while. We will pay some consequences. It will probably take some real effort and work and commitment on our part.
But God, our good Father, is faithful. He will deliver us.
Reacting – and sometimes over-reacting – to the situations around me.
Spending my money on me and what I want.
Determining my next step without consulting anyone. And then quickly going down that path without stopping to evaluate whether it’s the right one for me.
Any of these describe your life?
I definitely find myself in these situations sometimes.
Do you know how God responds to us when we act like this?
“You have abandoned me; therefore I now abandon you.” 2 Chronicles 12:6.
I want to go my own way? He let’s me.
Don’t get me wrong – he still loves me.
He hears.
He cares.
It breaks his heart when I wander away and abandon him in any part of my life.
God lets me have this freedom of choice because he wants my whole heart. He wants me to choose him over myself.
If I don’t choose to line my life up with his truth, he lets me. And then I pay the consequences for those bad choices. Sometimes very long-term consequences.
We share this broken world together so I know you’ve been there. You might be there right now.
Saying whatever you want to say when you’re angry – how well does that work?
Spending all of your time working. Too busy to spend any time with God. Where has that gotten you?
Spending all your money on ‘stuff’ and finding yourself deeply in debt. Yeah – the consequences of not being obedient with our money are nasty. Stressful. Depressing. And can last a very long time.
And God lets us.
Because he wants us to learn to choose him over everything else.
Everything else.
How are we doing? Are we choosing God and what he wants? Where do we need to improve? Or maybe we need to start.
There is no better time than now.
Thank you for never really abandoning us, Abba Father.
I’m an achiever. I like to get things done. I’m also a planner and organizer so I can make sure they get done.
There have been situations in my life in the past where I have struggled and worked and persevered to make something happen only to discover that it wasn’t the right thing. It didn’t work out.
So disappointing. Have you been there?
As my faith in God has grown, I have realized that I want God’s plans for my life to become reality, not my own plans. The truth is he knows everything, he has the power to do anything and his plans are perfect.
Mine aren’t.
So now I talk to God about what he wants, watch to see where he is moving and then join him in what he is doing. Does it surprise you that great things happen when I do this?
I’m not surprised.
Does it surprise you that sometimes I forget to do this?
I’m not surprised.
As I’m reading King Jeroboam’s story in 1 Kings, I am reminded of some of the disappointments I had when I was trying to do things my own way. Jeroboam was setting up his own kingdom in Israel without asking God what he wanted and Jeroboam was making a lot of bad decisions. But he persevered and made everything happen just like he wanted it.
Then, one day, the king stretched out his hand to command to his men to seize the prophet of God (another bad decision) and his hand shriveled up.
Wow! That got Jeroboam’s attention!
Jeroboam knew exactly who shriveled up his hand so he said to the prophet of God , “Intercede with the LORD our God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” 1 Kings 13: 6. This was a good decision – God instantly restored the king’s hand.
God doesn’t usually make hands shrivel up today but he is constantly trying to guide us down the right paths so we make good decisions. Since I’m a planner and organizer and doer, I have to be careful to listen to God and not just use my own skills to make stuff happen. Even when I’m sure I’m on the path where God wants me, if things just aren’t working, I’ve learned to stop and look to God – is he trying to redirect me? Did I misunderstand? – before I just push through to make it happen.
Years ago I decided that, before putting a big effort into climbing a wall, I’m going to make sure it’s the right wall.
When I am keeping my eyes on God, studying his Word and spending time with him, he shows me when I’m getting off track. I ask him to open doors or close doors – somehow show me if I’m going down the right path or not.
And he does. There are times when he opens my eyes to a different next step than I was planning. In other situations, he encourages me and I know I’m supposed to keep moving forward even when the going gets tough.
By focusing on what God wants – not what I want – God doesn’t have to try hard to get my attention. It’s a great way to avoid climbing the wrong wall and experiencing nasty consequences.
No shriveled hands here.
Thank you for your truth and guidance, Abba Father.
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, ” completely meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 12:8.
Do you ever feel that way?
Obviously this emotion is spreading rapidly through our culture today as we see the suicide rates drastically rising and mass shootings multiply. To many people, tomorrow seems to be meaningless and not worth sticking around for.
“Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Eccl. 2:11
King Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes. He was uber rich and the wisest man who ever lived and yet, this is what he wrote at the end of his life.
Pretty depressing, isn’t it?
The futility of pleasure – fleeting and never gives us lasting contentment.
The meaninglessness of work – we put so much effort into work to achieve recognition and so we can own things we want – then we leave it all behind when we die.
The injustices of life – evil is very real.
The futility of wealth – those who love money will never have enough.
The limits of human wisdom – “wisdom is difficult to find.”
Death comes to all – “the same destiny (of death) awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad.”
At the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon finally gets to the good news. Solomon’s final conclusions tell us what will bring true meaning to our lives.
He says to enjoy life while obeying God – real freedom and happiness come exclusively from God. Evil and injustice will always in a part of life on earth. We should live in faith knowing God wins in the end and will judge all things.
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, tells us that meaning and purpose will only be found by being faithful to God.
That alone is not meaningless.
Thank you for giving my life meaning and purpose, Abba Father.
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