Our Lord, our Savior, our Shepherd says:
"He who belongs to God hears what God says" (John 8:47a). I like
that. I like that because I like to think I always hear God clearly; therefore,
I must belong to Him.
Well, like all sheep, sometimes I wander
a bit too far from the Shepherd’s voice. Still, despite my tendencies to stray, I am overwhelmed by the love and
grace and mercy of God that He continues to speak and to draw me
to Himself. How amazing that even when I
fail to listen for a night or a season, if I will repent and be still, I can
hear Father calling me back to Himself. That’s how I know not only that I belong to Him, but also, that He loves me with an
everlasting love. I am crazy glad that God
still speaks by the Lord Holy Spirit through Scripture, prayer, His church, and
my circumstances to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
Jesus follows up that
sweet word of life, "He who belongs to God hears what God says,"
with this candid warning: “The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong
to God” (John 8:47b). This is a dire but
much needed word. The stakes could not
be higher. If we do not hear God, it is
because we do not belong to Him. One very
real danger here is that we can actually begin to think it is normal not to
hear God speak and weird for anyone to claim they do hear Him.
My heart has been
especially burdened of late for some precious friends who love God, who long to
know Him more intimately, and who live to make Him known more intentionally, but who have recently discovered their passions are not reflected or even shared by
a substantial number of their own church family. I am convinced the root issue dividing that local body is a shallow
view of the kind of love relationship God wants to share with each and every
one of His children. Consider this
observation from Henry Blackaby:
… We can trust more in our plans and in
our reasoning abilities than in God. We
may be able to achieve all of our goals and yet be far from God’s will. Planning is a tool God may lead you to use,
but it must never become a substitute for trusting Him. …
This can be honestly
said of many “good” things we all-too-easily substitute for the “great”
thing. Planning, logic, structure, common
sense, keeping the peace or maintaining status quo at the expense of allowing
God to interrupt our plans to call us to trust Him … It just occurred to me
that there is no such thing as an authentic love relationship with God that
does not include us deepening our dependence upon Him. If we can do anything in our lives or with brothers
and sisters in Christ that does not call us to trust Him more, the likelihood
is that is an activity that would wrestle us out of His arms like restless
infants crawling away from their parents embrace.
Blackaby continues:
Your relationship with God is far more
important to Him than any planning your will ever do. … God want us to follow Him daily, not just follow a plan. … God
created us for an eternal love relationship.
Life is our opportunity to experience Him at work (Experiencing God, Unit 5, Day 3).
What do we do when we
find ourselves butting heads with people who claim to belong to God but whose
lives do not give immediate evidence that they are actually hearing His voice, truly
and wholeheartedly trusting His ways, and finding complete satisfaction in the
knowledge and affirmation of His love for us?
1.
Pray for ourselves that we are pure and
honest and humble.
2.
Pray for those folks from whom we
justifiably expect partnership but receive disdain.
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If they, or we, are
not hearing from God, then Jesus Christ asserts, they, or we, do not belong to
Him. I cannot think of a more
treacherous and horrible state than that!
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