Just sharing a devotion by Oswald Chambers that spoke to me...
February 14, 2008
The Discipline of Hearing
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops —Matthew 10:27
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into "the shadow of His hand" until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2 ). "Whatever I tell you in the dark. . ."— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.
After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, "How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!" And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.
2 comments:
He's got a good point! Can I just say one thing tho? - heh, ok - I dont agree with him saying to not talk to anyone about the darkness. We are supposed to be a body of Christians who encourage each other and walk together. That cannot be done in the times when we need it most if we don't talk to others. Now maybe He means don't be complaining and telling everyone around...and thats right...but I think that we still need to include each other in all aspects of our lives - including the darkness!
Anyhow thats it! Hope you are having a good week. Love you!!
Also a good point, but I think he may mean don't go to others INSTEAD of going to God. You know? But you're right about how we need each other, (both for encouragement and accountability)- that's part of the body's role. But God's ultimately the one who can change it, and teach us b/c he knows our hearts. He can't talk to us when we are also busy talking. We need to listen... Maybe it depends on what kind of darkness we are in?
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