Something About The Joy

Did you ever wonder how God's voice sounded to the ancients?   When the Bible says, "God spoke" to   Abraham, how did Abraham know it was God speaking? The Bible rarely tells us how the people of Old Testament times "heard" God speak.   It just says God spoke, and leaves it at that.   It's as if God assumes people would know He was speaking, and what He was saying, without any further explanation.   But I don't always know, so God has obviously left an important piece of information out of the Scriptures. Or maybe not.   Maybe there's something left out of my way of hearing God instead.   Maybe something is screwy with my way of perceiving reality, as hard to believe as that may be. If I asked him, "Abraham, what made you think it was God speaking when you came up with that crazy idea that your descendants would outnumber the sands of the sea?" he would probably look at me like I was the crazy one.   He would ca

I'm finally beginning to listen, and I'm discovering, to my great delight, what God means when he tells me to rest.    God's rest is not passive inactivity.   Instead, it's a deliberate action on my part that leads me into the center of His peace.   Here are four elements of God's rest that can revitalize us and bring fresh excitement into our walk with Him. R ELINQUISHMENT Entering into God's rest involves, first of all, my relinquishment of my own agenda.   Agendas are not intrinsically wrong.   God has an agenda.   The Bible is His revelation of His agenda, from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation.   His agenda is all about goodness and grace.   My agenda rarely takes into account those two attributes, so it's often at cross- purposes with His.   My agenda centers around my needs and desires--my list of priorities--my "To Do" list.   That's why living according to my own rudderless a

I'm feeling singularly uninspired.   Have felt that way for a while.   Not sure why, or what is happening.   We've recently moved to a new neighborhood, and I feel the move signifies a new direction for ministry, but every time I ask God where he wants me to go on this next leg of my journey, all I hear is: "Rest."    That's all.   God can never be accused of being wordy. I don't like to rest.   It seems like such a waste of time.   I want to DO, and GO.   But after several weeks of asking for something to do, and getting the same one-word answer every time, I'm finally beginning to listen. My life is still in the doldrums.  No wind in the sails.  But I'm no longer restless in that calm place.  I can't say I'm feeling particularly joyful, but I'm content to wait and trust. This morning I was again wondering where my path was leading, and when I'd be allowed to step out onto the road again.   Feeling the sp