Can you hear me now? (Part 2)

 

On Monday, we looked at the story of Moses in Exodus chapter three. We saw that God used an unconventional way to speak to His man, and His people.

Let's pick up where we left off on that study.

"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."
 ~Exodus 3:2-3


Moses was walking, and saw the voice of God before he heard the voice of God. This hit me like a ton of bricks the first time God brought this to my attention.

1.GOD SPEAKS IN MANY WAYS.

God spoke creation into existence, yet on day six God formed man. Personal in nature, His touch created us. God understands what makes us tick, in fact He referred to us as "very good". All of His other creation was referred to as "good".

God knows us, and He designed us to be visual. 95% of our communication is visual. God ignited a bush to blaze like a neon sign for Moses in the wilderness. A hunk a hunk o' burnin love if you will!
I love that!!!

God shows us through this passage that He speaks in many ways. I want to point something out that is crucial to tuning in God's voice.

"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."
 ~Exodus 3:2-3

2.TAKE THE TIME

Time is the single most valuable thing that you can give God this side of eternity. In heaven, time will be no more, and what we do with that here is extremely important. Moses took time to stop and see what God had done.

What God used to teach me this is found in a passage that many of us have memorized already:

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Acknowledge. This word means: to search for, to discover.

It means in every thing I do, every place I go, and in everyone I meet I search for God.

God used a lady named *Charlotte to teach me to ask God, "What is it you are trying to teach me?"
*(See Can you Hear me now part 1)

I am not sure of what you are going through at this moment in time, but have you searched to find Him in this circumstance? Have you asked Him to reveal Himself to you?

I do not know much, but I do know that when one asks his or her Father to be found, He reveals Himself. We rarely ask Him to reveal himself to us. Think about it. You have asked Him for His help many times, maybe even already today, but when have you asked Him to reveal Himself? To speak?

It takes effort to be alert, but it takes time to hear.

The real question is, Is God worth your time?

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:.." ~Hosea 4:6

Knowledge is from the word Knosis. It means "know how".

"Where there is no vision, the people perish:..."~Proverbs 29:18

This is a passage that is often twisted into pushing people to complete the agenda or program of the one who is using it. The word vision means revelation, or revealing. The word perish here means to wither away slowly, like strangulation. In other words, where there is no revealing of God's word, the people die slowly.

For years, this is how I felt. Like I was withering away. I loved preaching, church, reading my Bible, being around other Christians, and serving God; but I was dying on the inside. God was trying to speak to me, but I was passing every burning bush I came to. God was displaying His voice all around me but I was so busy with life that I missed it. There was no time devoted to searching for Him in what I did, where I went, and who I met. I was perishing.

Is God worth your time?

Take Time:
To Pray
To Read
To Meditate
To have quiet time
To Listen

Exodus 3 teaches us:
GOD SPEAKS IN MANY WAYS
TAKE TIME
3.WHAT MOSES SAW WHEN HE TOOK THE TIME TO SEE THAT GOD SPOKE IN DIFFERENT WAYS, WAS THAT GOD SAW MOSES.

"And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I." ~ Exodus 3:4 

One of the greatest truths to remember besides salvation is that God sees you!

We forget this one so often, but God never forgets us.

I think one of the greatest thoughts that I can hold in my mind as my day goes along is the thought that God sees me.

He is aware of my location, my fears, insecurities, doubts, achievements, victories, temptation and joys.
God sees my heart, and He notices the times that I "turn aside to see this great sight". It is then that I can hear His plan for me.

I need to tie this together.

My car is trying to decide if it wants to give up the ghost. I keep trying to explain to it that it is needed but, it is slipping away. Last Monday night, I was driving it for its weekly appointment at Dr. Auto Zone and I was asking God to show me what He wanted me to see through all of this.

I stopped at the drive through of McDonalds to bring home some food for my family. I ordered food for them, but I was too upset to eat. It was late, and I just wanted to get the car fixed. As I sat there in the drive through, I saw a man walk by me. No shoes, army backpack, a dog on a rope, and overgrown hair and beard. God said through a little thought, "Buy him something to eat."

I was in hurry to get home, so I  pretended not to hear. When my order was complete, the voice at the other end of the loudspeaker asked me, "Will that complete your order?"
"Yes" I said.
"Are you sure?" The voice asked. They were trying to get me to buy an apple pie...or were they?
"No", I said, "I need another meal...bag it separately please."
The line would not move fast enough. I had to get this guy his meal. I kept thinking to myself, "God, if you want me to feed him, let him be still there in the parking lot when I come around."

When I got around to the other side of McDonalds, there was no sign of the man or his dog. I pulled out to the main road and was about to turn left to go home thinking that the Lord must not have wanted me to feed that man after all. God then said, "Dan, turn right and find that man! I told you to feed him."
I turned right and drove a few blocks when I saw him. I pulled up and rolled down my window.
"Hey bud! Are you hungry?" I called out.
He ran over to the truck and gratefully took the meal. "What is your name?" I asked him.
"My name is John", he replied.
"John, can I tell you my story?" I  pressed. "Sure man," he answered while stuffing the cheeseburger in his mouth.
"John, I used to be a zombie" I started. John stopped chewing and his eyes opened wide.
"John, I was alive on the outside, but I was dead on the inside. I had no real direction and I thought my life was just supposed to be spent being a good moral person. God was real enough, but I did not know him" at this point I had John's attention. "I knew about God John, but I did not know Him."
John and I were meeting the way God had planned.
"John, I discovered that if I searched for God in everything I did, everyplace I went, and everyone I met, He would personally direct my path...John, He gave me direction." John was locked onto every word I said.
I decided to go for the gold, "John, God told me to buy you food, and He would not let me be in peace until I found you. I was going to go left, and He made me go right. He made me find you, so that you could have a meal."
"Do you have any idea what that means when He goes to that kind of trouble?" I asked. "John, that means that He sees you, and that He loves you enough to hear just the simple request that you have for food. John, that means that someone has been praying for you, and holding your well being up to Him!" I leaned forward and said, "John, I do not know who has been praying for you, a mom, a sister, a brother, a grandparent, or a dad...someone has been praying for you, and God revealed Himself."
I pointed to his dog and I asked, "Do you love that dog?"
"That's my buddy..." John said.
"John, God loves you enough to reach out to you and provide for the one that you love as well. He gave you food enough for him too." I said.
"I don't know why you are on the path you are John, but if you ask Him to reveal himself to you, He will direct you into a future that far outshines your past!"

As I drove home, God said, "Dan, if I love John enough to provide him with a meal, how much more will I take care of you and a car that wants to die".

God used a burning bush for Moses, and a man named John for me. For you it very well might be just taking the time to read this post. I don't know, but I do know if we can miss God speaking in Genesis 1:3 than we can miss Him today. He is very much around you, and He is very much interested in speaking to you!

Climbing with you,
~Dan