Struggling to Follow the Guiding Soft Whisper

With the pool closed for a month of coughs & a chill in the air, I've spent several quiet leisurely afternoons refreshing my memory with some personal biblical character studies. To make reviews memorable, I began to write somewhat speculative essays. Of course, these are fictional as I often read between the lines to imagine what it must have been like when their Creator entered their daily lives and culture.
I tried to envision their emotions struggling often in conflict with desired godly obedience. My thoughts penned formulated imaginary conversations between their own heart and mind as I asked the question: "What would it have been like to have your day invaded by an Invisible Voice of the known Creator commanding an action contrary to your daily activities? I wondered what it must have been like for them to walk by faith and please God long before God's beautiful message of reconciliation had been accomplished through His Son.

We don't often stop and consider that OT characters walked daily 'by faith without all the benefits we've been given through Jesus Christ. What a task they had to look forward toward the Promise! How different from mine was their relationship with the Creator! (Col 3:10Nlt)
I believe there is such hidden treasure in the richness of their faith. When simple English translations say with very few words the immense encounters these heroes experienced with the Almighty, it's hard to grasp the overwhelming struggle they may have undergone! As we read "He obeyed immediately." or "so he went"... I'm not sure we stop to think of all the common issues, thoughts, arguments, challenges, possibilities with emotions that fleeted through the mind at such commands.

Imagine what it would be like even today to hear a Voice command "Go!" and then, try to explain our actions to others! It would be hard to put into words why one was obeying a heard invisible voice. To speculate any hesitancy, doubt, fear or even the amounts of arguments one had within or with family members makes me realize how deeply their faith in the Invisible God really had developed.     

Today, many testify the difficult emotional depths of struggle conflicting with their desire to know God's will. Simple commands given God's children arouse arguments between reason & obedience. Confronted with written commands, different opinions question the reality of the command in light of culture and comfort. Contemplating this struggle today makes the ancients' walk by faith even more astounding, I can't help but wonder how hard it must have been to strive to do what is right by pleasing God without the spiritual strength I'm offered today in Christ.

In the following essay, I've considered the inner questions and longings I might have whispered in prayer, especially questioning if I had really heard and grasped God's command correctly.
If I had heard God like elderly Aaron, I think it would have been difficult to tell others I needed to leave home to wander in the wilderness looking for my lost brother of 40 years. I'm sure apprehension and fear would have choked my thoughts as I left civilization to go into unknown territory. Explaining to leaders and slave taskmasters a need for a leave of absence to follow an invisible Voice would probably have been denied and mocked. My choice may have made it more difficult for others who didn't believe or understand how one can hear audible commands from the Creator. I would have struggled to help others understand the need to take a journey into the unknown. Through the writing of this essay, I've been quite surprised at how many parallels there are today for us as we choose to be God's obedient servants and follow His voice into our wilderness.
And just we must do, these characters stepped out in faith, expecting the Creator to show them the way, often one step at a time. They struggled to obey and had to make life decisions based on faith, just as I must do today. 

A Walk with Aaron. 

His brother had been gone for 40 years; maybe he was even dead, yet the soft whisper on the wind told him to leave Egypt and journey into the wilderness to meet his brother at the Mountain of God. Given no map, he simply knew he needed to go into the wilderness to meet his younger brother. He did not dare refuse. Leaving the quarries was one difficulty he faced but getting past his family's arguments challenged his determined spirit almost to breaking. He just had to go. They finally relented as if he was just an old man who had lost his mind and was leaving the village to face death alone.

As he left civilization to wander the desolate plain, he longed to hear that Voice calling to him again. He wished for verbal directions, something tangible, something specific. He knew he was being led. He could sense it and as he trudged the rough terrain, he had an undeniable peace of heart. He trudged on.
At long last, hope was fulfilled. Far off in the distance, he saw his brother coming toward him.
Their reunion was sweeter than he could have imagined. The lost years had not destroyed their relationship and easily lapsing into conversation restored their love as they walked together again. Retelling stories of their different childhoods and the filling in missing pieces of the past forty years were shared as they returned to Egypt.
So engrossed in conversation, their steps slowed as they neared their destiny. His younger brother told him about the burning bush where the Almighty Creator had spoken on holy ground. Hearing again the lost name of their Creator, YHWH, felt sweet on his whispered breath. He was flabbergasted when told that he was to become God's spokesman, assisting his brother in leading the people of God out of Egypt and slavery. Uncertainty pushed his fears to the surface. The task seemed impossible.
He mustered new courage to speak God's instructions as his brother relayed them to him and he was overwhelmed to witness the powerful fulfillment each time he spoke. He was learning in fresh experiences that YHWH's great power came in simple gestures of obedience.
He spoke. Moses acted. Each time, God's instructions flowed through the two men in word and deed. Each command was followed by Pharaoh mocking the Almighty's power, intensifying the miracles and the attacks on Egyptian worship of false gods.
At last, the night of darkness shook and destroyed Egypt's dreams.
Every first born was dead.
Dressed and ready to flee as instructed, he thought the people of God could not be ushered out of the country any faster. 
They were free.

But this old man of past slavery would learn that newfound freedom took on a variety of challenges with required responsibilities and severe consequences. 

Who is boasting on You?

My reading in The Daily Light abruptly stopped at these words...
"my feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside". 

Wow. Imagine saying this in your SMALL GROUP when asked about your week.
In most "christian" circles today, those words would be met with scorn. Rebuke would follow, some being appalled at the pride and boasting, and perhaps even Bible verses would be thrown to refute the reality of anyone standing firm with such a testimony!
Discussion and questions dispute our ability to follow closely in His steps, lecturing often on how our weakness causes our feet to turn aside from His Way!
Afterall, they say, "we're only human"!

These constant opinions often puzzle me for they are argued by those who have been promised the Presence of the Comforting Guide, constant and continual, and One who is "able to keep them from stumbling".
To many, "Stand firm in their faith" becomes wishful thinking, and it is obvious there is not the applied belief in their God who IS "able to keep them from stumbling" (Jude 24).
Yet we read this shocking testimony from an Old Testament character, from an account which happened long before the Law was given, ages before the Cross claimed victory, or even the Covenant of promise. He stood without the Guide and Power who is given to believers today. In his testimony, Job saw through eyes of faith God's declaration, cry of Victory, and he stood firm in his faith, knowing for sure he saw reality.

Just as many times we find ourselves in a circle of more worldly wisdom, Job was surrounded by more human experience and educated knowledge. He faced the same accusations thrown around today when someone stands firm in faith.

I found it imperative for me to read the full account of Job in one sitting, recording repetition of advice, and folly. As I read his story, I also found an:
in spite of a circle of friends who scolded, rebuked, reproved, and basically corrected Job.

They fired every shot of humanism with arrows of pragmatism, relevance, comfort, experience, happiness, moderation, obligation and even personal responsibility.

This ancient man stood firm in his Faith. In his saddest moments when companionship would have been refreshing, he was verbally rejected by "friends". When comfort could have been extended, he was corrected and rebuked by elites and youth alike. Yet, Job held firm to faith.
And...
God boasted of him!

The Scriptures tell us that "powers and authorities in heavenly places" present themselves before the LORD where God boasts to his enemy about his servant!!

That is so awesome. I wonder how often this scene plays out in heaven today! Here is now the scene I believe described in the New Testament:

Ephesians 3:10 "...so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our LORD."
From Job, I learn the dangers of opinions, and determine to build my faith in Christ alone through the Word of God given to me. I've learned to say "Give me Bible." because:

Misleading Lesson Prep for Small Group 

Comforters distort God and falsely declare...

1. God is hard task master, unable to please, full of wrath, ready to punish.

2. God is only known through life's experiences and physical explanations, therefore, rely on perceptions.

3. God will exact less than what we deserve because he knows we're human, so just try to do your best, realizing perfection is unreasonable.

Each "friend" of Job's ends his piece of advice seasoned with "hear, and know it is for your own good"... 5:27, 8:21, 11:15-19

Although each argument sounded plausible, Job refused to turn aside and doubt God.

Testimony printed to carry everywhere with me

Very weary of their comforting advice,
Job stood firm and testified...
He had a Redeemer.
He had a witness before God, testifying for him.
He knew he would see God for himself.
He knew he was upright and that his hands were clean, making his strength stronger.
He knew his God watched the way he chose... and
He knew when his God's purpose was fulfilled, he would be shining as gold.
Job stated firmly the substance his FAITH held, in unseen evidence.

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, 
the evidence of things not seen."  Hebrews 11:1

Discipline: The Glad Surrender

I find reading for personal development opens the door for the Holy Spirit to bring Scriptural truth into my spiritual walk with my Lord, Jesus Christ.
Such is this small book I chose from Elizabeth Elliot, one of my faith heroines. Not many in our modern culture appreciate this topic, but for me, it has cemented some conclusions already drawn from my own personal biblical studies.

Although, Elizabeth has trekked many miles through authentic jungles, it was her consistent pilgrimage with her Savior that drew me to DISCIPLINE: The Glad Surrender. Her character and lifestyle lured me to learn more from her writings. Enduring stories of physical pain, trials, and suffering, yet leaning toward surrender in gladness made me know certainly that she spent many journey hours on her knees, asking for wisdom and the measure of her Savior's grace. Lessons in God's grace taught her patience and endurance. Gladness is her triumphal cry of victory. A gladness found surrenderng to discipline. This is the victory I also want to be my legacy.

I thank my Lord for servant examples who have left footsteps for me to follow on this journey. With a humble heart looking for encouragement and affirmation, I believe the Lord led me to open this book of wisdom. I've been discouraged by "hireling" discussions for too long. I needed the wisdom of true disciples to help me discern Truth from the common "sharing" found in most assemblies' circles today. I believe instruction of righteousness needs to infiltrate once again "the household of God, the church, the pillar & buttress of Truth" 1 Tm 3:15, to enable the "call to arms" to be sounded.

Elizabeth Elliot challenges her readers to look beyond this culture of "I believe-ism" to the reality of discipline in genuine Christianity.
To be a Christian in New Testament terms is to be a disciple.  More than 'just getting wet', one must die and be raised to "walk in newness of life". It is the one who has been "placed under orders", or disciplined. We have a Savior who not only died to save us from the penalty of our sins, but also he saved us from our sins. We cannot hang on to "unrighteousness and worldly passions" (Titus 2:11-12) and think we are following Him. We cannot barter and change the definitions of righteousness, His forgiveness, discipleship, and discipline; while holding onto personal wants, comforts, preferences, SELF-absorbtion and continue to think we are "approving what pleases God".

Jesus said, "If any one desires to be my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me." Luke 9:23

"I cannot be saved from my sins unless I am also saved from myself, so Christ must be "commanding officer" of my life." Elizabeth Elliot
I have been placed "under orders".

It is the believer's response to God's call.
It is his career and his response to the Creator.
It is reality.

Marred in His Hands

"Just because you're drawing fire doesn't mean you're out of God's will." 
"This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 'Go down to the potter's house and there I will give you my message. So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 
Then the word of the Lord came to me:...
'Can I not do with you as this potter does?' declares the Lord.

How often we hear only the good visible "blessings" of being in God's will! The riches, the peace, the rewards, and all the joy. Everything is happiness! We evaluate the physical, the appearances, the circumstances. We consider only the external. Everything working out perfectly in and for our personal lives. 

Yet, continually God's Word paints an internal transformation which often involves pain and suffering, tears and brokenness, and definite marring. The same question comes from our precious Father, 
"Can I not do with you as this Potter does?" 

Faithful servants celebrate

Faithful servants testify with a resounding "YES!" encouraging others to let Him "shape you into another pot, shaping you as seems best to Him! 

But our own expectations remain jarred with these words: "the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in His hands". 

How can that be? 
Why would a loving God allow such a thing?

Or we hear...
This can't be of God...
You must be out of God's will... or worse...
He isn't a very faithful God.

"marred in his hands..." 

Jean Barsness' story

Recently, an elderly missionary friend shared the rest of her story. 
Surrendered to the Lord while very young, she felt his call to "Go" to a foreign country to proclaim the gospel. She obeyed. She prepared and was sent. 

In the center of God's will, obedient to his call...all going as expected with language studies and cross-cultural changes. She was in His hands.

Then, she was marred.
Shocking news that her beloved husband had been murdered. Stabbed 11 times and left in a gutter along the canal. 
Cracked, broken, wounded, hurting, not understanding...she was marred.

Jean Barsness

At first, she may have questioned her marring, but with strong determination and by faith, believing God was her Potter, she blindly trusted Him. She had begun her journey with the prayer: "Anywhere, Any time, Any cost"; her life remained in his hands. 
Through the years that followed, she experienced His shaping her into another pot.

Now...40 years later, she stands before a crowd who admire such a beautiful pot, a strong pot, and a very used pot. 
A pot that has carried many other lumps of clay to the precious hands of her Potter.  
Her Potter was faithful. 
He continued to keep her 'in His hands", forming her into another pot, shaping her as seemed best to Him. 

And our 2015 Home Coming Celebration ended with her beautiful words...
"all for HIS GLORY".