06/24/2020
Do we listen for the voice of the Lord in our daily lives? Do we look for opportunities to serve God as we go about our days? When we do these things we are blessing God, and bringing Him glory. So I ask, are we being attentive, and obedient... are we praising His Holy Name as we provide continuous service to His will?
“Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.”
Psalms 103:20 KJV
Many years ago I was out in my boat with my father. We were bass fishing on the Cumberland River in Tennessee, and enjoying the day. Around mid-morning I was running the electric trolling motor as we faced the bank, and cast our lures at underwater stumps and drop offs that I knew ran beneath the water along that particular stretch of bank. As we talked in the morning quiet we heard the sound of a speed boat approaching from up river. The sound was a steady hum, and we paid it little attention as it approached, that is until we heard a strange “Fwump” sound and it went silent. I turned to see the boat upside down in the river channel, and quickly told my father to get his life jacket on because we needed to go help these people... NOW!
Well, my father was aged, and it took me longer than I liked to get him off his fishing chair and seated in the boat, so, by the time I did this, started my motor, and turned the boat into the current, and towards the overturned boat There were other boats giving aid. I continued on towards the accident, and could hear the conversations. There were two people in the boat when the steering cable broke, and the outboard engine immediately flipped to one side causing the boat to turn sharply, and capsize. Both man and woman were alive, unharmed, and were being pulled into one of the first responder’s boats by the time I was half way to them.
What happened next is something I have thought about often. My mind started analyzing what needed to happen in order to save this boat, and I determined that a rope needed to be attached to the overturned boat’s bow where it could then be towed to the dock, it would then need to be righted, and finally... winched onto its trailer for later repair. All of this would take much time, and end the day’s fishing trip with my dad. I continued on towards them, and listened to their conversations. The woman was angrily complaining that her purse was still in the boat, and that the man needed to get back in the water and retrieve it (which would be very dangerous in the current), while those who had come to their aid were determining who had a rope, and how best to attach It, and tow the boat to the dock. At this point I made a decision to turn back and let them handle the situation. There were plenty of men on the scene, and even though I knew what needed to be done, they could handle it. I convinced myself that they didn’t need me. But in truth I should have continued on, and taken charge.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV
I was in the right place at the right time, and this wasn’t happenstance... it was God giving me the opportunity to do a good work, and to bring Him glory. I was being given an opportunity to witness through my actions, and words, to this gathering that Included an angry woman, and my own father, but I turned away from that opportunity, and convinced myself that I hadn’t heard God’s voice.
““Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
Luke 6:46 ESV
It is easy to be convinced that God only directs us when we are in active conversation with Him. If we are not in our prayer closet, or lifting up a prayer in some other place, we are inclined to become deaf to Him. We walk by the hungry without so much as a tinge of guilt, see the homeless shivering and not offer them a coat, or perhaps we see a child struggling in some way and not lend them aid... in this way we miss the opportunity to answer His call, to deliver the gospel, or even to simply say to them “God bless you.” In this way we deny God, and we miss an opportunity to bring Him glory. How many times have we done this, and is it more times than we have actually heard His voice, and done His will? Does the thought of this convict us, bring us shame, and cause us to ask His forgiveness? Will thinking on this today cause us to listen more intently, and to not rationalize our disobedience? I hope so... the occurrence on the river those many years ago still visits me, and reminds me that God speaks to me all the day long. I pray that I never forget the sound of a flipping boat, and my actions that day. Jesus was one man, I am one man, so will I obey God’s will as Jesus did, and bring souls to Him in glory?
“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”
Romans 5:19 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for speaking to me in my prayer closet as I seek you in fervent there, but thank you more for your voice and calls to action as I go through my everyday activities. Never let me think that I must seek you In prayer before you will talk to me, but that much more than that you instigate conversation with me all the day long. Make me aware of your presence always, and when I don’t hear you in the storm, then make me patient enough to listen in the calm that comes afterward. If you tell me to lend aid to another, but I don’t know how, then hear my prayer asking for you to lead me. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who is active in the lives of His children at all times. Praised be your name for each opportunity you give me to serve you, and bring you glory. Great are you in the magnificent commands you give me, but greater yet are you in the subtle callings, and whispers in my ear. Help me, and all your children, to please you just as Jesus did... even before he yielded to your will on the cross, and ultimately came to redeemed the world from sin and defeated death, you announced your pleasure in Him... not for the grand command that would come, but for all the subtle and unwritten things in His life to that point. Let your Holy Spirit teach us to diligently listen, and do, all those things you ask of us... the great and small alike. You are patient, and merciful Father, even when our hearing fails us, and you are long suffering when we are inattentive, or disobedient. Help us to be contrite, and seek your forgiveness in such moments. Pour your grace over us through Jesus Christ, and to be renewed in spirit, and transformed by our faith. In this way, as we hear, and do your will, we will cling to your promises, and claim life everlasting.
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””
Matthew 3:16-17 ESV
Rich Forbes