Don't stop now

Sometimes when you want God to speak to you in paragraphs, he talks in monosyllables.

You want reams of explanation, speeches rich with assurance, points and sub-points that describe how-to.

You pray. You wait. You listen.

God promises to answer those who ask, but he doesn’t promise to run like a flunky to do our bidding. We make a mistake when we pray, expecting no answers. We make a mistake when we demand answers.

After all, God is – God. You can upbraid him if you want. He can take it. You can pitch fits and utter ultimatums. You may lean toward those strategies if you’ve found they work well for manipulating people. But God cannot be manipulated, threatened or intimidated.

We go a lot farther toward knowing him, toward hearing him, when we honor him. That includes coming to him on his terms.

God delights in seekers. He makes all kinds of promises to seekers, promises that have to do with finding. In particular, God delights in those who seek – not stuff, not even answers, but him. When we treat him like an afterthought or an underling or Super Santa, we’ll generally find ourselves doing all the talking. When knowing who he is becomes important to us, he will begin to speak.

Some scoff at the idea that God speaks. Once a person asked me, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “So how do you know when God is speaking?” My answer: “How do you know when your mother is speaking?” You’ve learned to recognize her voice.

I can even recognize my cat’s meow. And we’re not dealing with pets here. This God claims to have created heaven and earth, including every person speaking every language. Indeed, this God claims to have created language. That kind of God has no trouble making himself understood.

One day, I drove northwest on a four-lane highway toward golden remnants of sunset. I asked God questions, hoping for lengthy, detailed answers.

He said, “Don’t stop now.” No explanations. No assurances. No details.

At first, that answer irritated me. But then I remembered God’s promise that those who seek find. Taking the monosyllables I’d been given, I began seeking to understand more of what God was saying. As I searched The Message version of the Bible, God spoke in paragraphs.

Psalm 27:14: “Stay with GOD! Take heart. Don't quit. I'll say it again: Stay with GOD.”

Psalm 37:27-28: “Turn your back on evil, work for the good and don't quit. GOD loves this kind of thing, never turns away from his friends.”

Isaiah 26:3-4: “People with their minds set on you [God], you keep completely whole, Steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don't quit. Depend on GOD and keep at it because in the LORD GOD you have a sure thing.”

Matthew 10:21-22: “When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don't quit. Don't cave in. It is all well worth it in the end.”

Romans 12:12: “Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder.”

Sometimes when you want God to speak in paragraphs, he talks in monosyllables. Sometimes he speaks in pictures; sometimes through an inner nudge. The God of infinite creativity has lots to say and many ways to say it.

When you think you’ve heard his voice, begin from there and seek.

© 2008, Deborah P. Brunt. All rights reserved.