“Listen! Listen to Me”, says the Lord. “Listen, all My called ones: I am He; I am the First, I also am the Last. My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together and execute My decrees.” He is the Lord, our Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, saying: “I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you…Who leads you in the way you should go.” (Is 48:12-13,17)
Hungry for whatever God wanted to teach me, I waited in anticipation at every turn of the page for a verse to jump out at me when instead I found myself next to a burning bush beside a frantic Moses who was facing a significant challenge he didn’t feel equipped for. His speech was impaired, his voice not impactful, yet he was given this mammoth task of leading the Israelites out of captivity. “I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say,” God said (Ex 4:12). It is as if God said ‘Don’t worry Moses, I have already solved for all your needs – current and future. I’ve got this.’ And so, God provided for all their needs and guided them every single day through the desert and when Joshua took over to lead them into the Promised Land, the Lord continued His faithfulness. In fact, the old testament is filled with examples of how God provided and showed His mighty power. He was the same God throughout all the trials and defeats and victories.
And then Jesus came to show us the heart of the Father through stories and miracles and examples. He radically transformed the lives of everyone around him, breaking strongholds, healing diseases, changing hearts and made a way to give us direct access to the Father. He showed us how to deal with the difficulties of life. He showed us how to love and taught us forgiveness, and when He left the earth, He didn’t leave us orphans. “Remember,” Jesus said, “I am with you, always” (Mat 28:20). He is with us on every occasion, every day, continuously. He has sent the Holy Spirit, as our Counsellor, Advocate, Helper, Intercessor, Strengthener and Standby. He is easily accessible, and He lives with us constantly (John 14:16-18).
I think what God want to teach me is that He has already provided for my every need and that I am not alone traversing life’s crossroads. There is a multitude of believers and an abundance of examples and stories and teachings of God’s people navigating unchartered territory that I can learn from. He wanted me to realize that the Word of God speaks, that it is alive, and that it is powerful today! (Heb 4:12). The ancient words written on worn pages (and now in the form of digital 1’s and 0’s) are relevant to me today. I have access to all the tools I need to be fully equipped for the challenges as they arise.
Through the Word of God, I can see the truth and defy the lies of the devil, because it is sharper than any two-edged sword and can expose every lie. The Word of God sift and analyse and judge all our secret thoughts and hidden purposes of the heart and offers mercy and love and grace and acceptance. It can protect my heart and mind if I believe that God declared me righteous through Jesus Christ and help focus my mind on my inheritance as daughter of the King, because He has given me abundant gifts out of the riches of His plentiful storehouses. I can walk in faith, trusting God because I know that He is faithful, knowing that He will be by my side through every trial, on every terrain, being a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path (Ps 119:105). And by praying the Word of God over my life, the Holy Spirit can wield the sword to defeat the enemy on my behalf (Eph 6:17).
There is an illuminating power that the Word of God has. The illuminating power of the Word makes verses come alive in a special way even after you’ve read them hundreds of times. In those moments, I believe the Holy Spirit is prompting us to declare it and pray it over our lives. God is doing all the heavy lifting in the battlefield, and through prayer, that short, dagger like, agile weapon can be effectively wielded, and the outcome can be swayed. It can make a way where there wasn’t a way before.
God told Moses, “I Am Who I Am and What I Am, and I will be What I will be.” This is the all sufficient God that never changes. The mighty God we serve Who talks to us, walks with us and lives in us. A God that is intimately involved in our lives. A God that enthusiastically look forward to seeing how we are being moulded into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. The God who invites us to commit all our plans to Him and trust Him completely with it, and then promises to cause our thoughts to become aligned with His will (Prov 16:3).
Sometimes I feel like I’m standing on a precipice and can’t see what’s ahead. When the road ahead looks like a daunting shadow with just enough light to take one step forward, I try to take comfort in knowing that God will teach me and equip me with everything I need at that moment in time. I want to remember how God performed miracles in my life and brought light when I felt surrounded by darkness. I’d like to remind myself that darkness might simply be a reminder of where God’s light would be.
So, when God says to listen, I need to pause and soak His message up for a while. I need to let it sink in. My God, the all-powerful, omnipotent, all sufficient God is speaking to me, His daughter, His called one. He is my Teacher and my Leader. He has a roadmap for my life. He has taken an interest in my life. He has designed the way that I should go. And He has a special message just for me, handpicked!
