Sometimes in the midst of a trial it feels like God is silent. Is that the case, or are we just not listening? The other day I was having a really bad day. Someone I love very much is in failing health and by the end of our visit, I was feeling quite overwhelmed. I’ve had a few health concerns of my own and a lot is up in the air right now, several people I love are also going through struggles, and I was hurting. I started to pray and a song came. Into my mind almost instantly, Hold Me Jesus, by Rich Mullins. It was just the chorus. “Hold me Jesus, cause I’m shaking like a leaf. You have been King of my Glory. Won’t you be my Prince of Peace?” Before long I was singing it over and over again and it brought me peace. I feel like God spoke in my time of trouble, and as I meditated on it, I saw that it could be a message of hope for my congregation and maybe even beyond. So this weekend I will preach a message called Hold Me Jesus. My prayer is that it will help others the way it helped me.
Then last night I had the strangest dream. I was about to speak to a gathering of people from my last job. I had this wonderful message that was just materializing before my eyes about the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant. It all was so clear and made so much sense. I was sitting there at my conference booth with paintings and other images I had done for the event, when all of the sudden my art started falling from the display. As I was rushing around to hang the pieces that were falling when I had the realization. The organization was secular and my message was very Christian, it wouldn’t fit and I was in a panic trying to come up with what I would say when I got to the platform in just a few minutes. That’s when I woke up. Now it’s interesting. I’m not sure what the meaning of all the stuff with falling art and the message not fitting with that group. I awoke with the complete outline of a message for my congregation, or perhaps some place beyond. I got up essentially right away and wrote it all down.
I am still trying to discern the meaning of some of this, but here is the point. In the times where it feels like God is silent, He’s probably not. He may just be waiting for you to be listening. I know when I am hurting it can be really tempted to shut down and fall into something to distract my mind. How about you? Maybe it’s time we stop doing that, take some time in the struggle to just listen to the Lord. I’m reminded of a passage from this Sunday’s message. Romans 5:3-5: Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings,knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Friend, God speaks! He speaks to us through His Word and He speaks to us in prayer and even in dreams. Maybe we just need to take the time to listen.
AMOKArts 