BBD 08.14.07 When God Speaks - Part II
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
Join the Burning Bush Prayer Group! Send and receive prayer requests and be
a part of a great ministry. More than 300 wonderful people make up this
group. To join send an email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Be a part of the Burning Bush Community! Share prayer requests,
inspirational material, find help for addictions, and help others. Find out
more at the Burning Bush Community webpage:
http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=37647
Several devotional booklets are available for free download in PDF format at
the new site. Just click on the "Free Book Downloads" link.
The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 1142 new subscribers since January 1, 2007!!
08.14.07
When God Speaks - Part II
For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which
they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who
were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From
now on you will catch men." So when they had brought their boats to land,
they forsook all and followed Him. - Luke 5:9-11.
When we know what God wants with our lives, when He has spoken and we know
it we have two choices. One choice is the way of Jonah. Jonah did not want
to do what God wanted him to do. We know the story and we know that
eventually Jonah did what God wanted him to do. Jonah preached his one
sentence sermon to the wicked Ninevites, they repented, and just as Jonah
feared, God spared their lives.
The other choice is the way of the Samuel. Samuel grew up serving in the
Temple under the direction of the priest Eli. God called Samuel in an
audible voice and Samuel thought at first that it was Eli calling him. Eli
told Samuel to answer the Lord when He called. 1 Samuel 3:10-11 tells us
what happened; "Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times,
'Samuel! Samuel!' And Samuel answered, 'Speak, for Your servant hears.' Then
the LORD said to Samuel.." Samuel obeyed and the result was that "Samuel
grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the
ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been
established as a prophet of the LORD (1 Samuel 3:19-20)."
>From these two examples, we can see something else that is very important.
Which servant of God had the most peace, joy, and meaning in their life? It
was not Jonah. Jonah was unhappy about every aspect of God's call. Jonah had
to go through what could only be described as hell before he decided to obey
God. Spending a few days and nights in the belly of a great fish could
probably make anyone change their mind. However, Jonah still was not happy
about it and even after the Ninevites repented because of hearing his
preaching it just made him mad and depressed.
God's voice in these days may not be audible but it can be almost as easily
heard. When I first heard God's call, I responded only to soon afterwards
turn away. I was miserable and depressed. I had no joy. I had no happiness.
I had no peace. I had no meaning in my life. I knew that I had made the
wrong choice and it took eleven long years before God gave me another
chance.
Which is the easiest way? It certainly is not the way of Jonah. I have heard
people talk about their fear of responding to God's call. They speak of the
fear that God will have them become a missionary to some far away country.
However, when you speak to those who have become missionaries and spent
their lives on the mission field you can sense that they have lived lives of
fulfillment, lives of meaning and purpose.
Would it not be better to just skip the Jonah part and go straight for the
response of Samuel? Leave the fear behind placing your life into the hand of
God, the One who knows more about your life than you do. Place your life
into His hand because He wants better for your life than you can possibly
imagine. The next time God calls let us say with Samuel, "Speak, for Your
servant hears."
Copyright © 2007. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Prayer Requests: Please pray for Malachi a young boy with cancer undergoing
chemo - his white count is very low. Many prayer needs are posted at the
Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also post your
prayer requests there and they will be forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer
Group (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me.).
If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org
Streaming Videos of some of my sermons are posted at:
http://www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html
There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.
You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.
You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.