The complacency of fools will destroy them.

    - Proverbs 1:32, second sentence (New American Standard Bible)

Wisdom is the speaker - the author - of the portion of the proverb that includes this warning. Wisdom is shouting in the street, imploring any and all to listen and obey her words (vs. 20-21). The picture created in my mind by this proverb always has been that no one follows wisdom or listens to her. Although she offers her answers freely, she is ignored - disregarded.

How often have I missed this lesson of complacency while focusing on the other wisdoms of the proverbs? How often am I contented to a fault (especially with my own accomplishments), pleased with myself, appathetic, casual or indifferent?  What will I do today to gain wisdom? Once I hear it, how will I implement her instruction? What must I do to surrender my will and my actions to receive the benefit of her warning and instruction?

Please, take a few minutes to contemplate this idea? Should you have similar concerns about yourself?  I do not ask that you listen to me. I implore you to listen for wisdom and to heed her warning. I do not wish that either of us would perish.

"Look down."

                                -  The Holy Spirit, circa November 1971


Just in case it is not yet obvious, I should make clear that this voice of God generally has not unlocked for me the great, unexplained mysteries of the universe.  God never has told which stocks to buy or sell.  The results in my life could not have been more profound if He had told me such things, but the subjects He has addressed with me have been much more mundane.  He also never tells me what another person has done behind closed doors.  What other people do is none of my business.  God apparently intends to keep that just the way it is. 

Instead, the very first time I heard THAT voice, all it said was, "Look down." 

I was a high school senior at the time and had lost my mother's car keys in the middle of a  large  public park.  A half dozen friends had helped me comb every square inch where I had set my feet in that park.  The keys still were lost and I was on the verge of getting home after the time assigned by my parents.  (Young readers might not be able to imagine a world void of cell phones where teenagers were "corrected" for not arriving at home on time, but I definitely grew up in one.)  This was about as close to the proverbial "needle in a haystack" scenario as I ever had come.  I was both frustrated and afraid.

I was retracing my steps one more time from the car across the park, when apparently out of nowhere the idea popped into my head, "Why don't you pray and ask God for help?"  I did not hear a voice, I simply received an idea.  And that's when the first miracle happened:  In absolute contradiction to my impatient nature and personality, I did as the voice suggested.  I stopped walking right there in the middle of that park, planted my two feet firmly on the ground, closed my eyes, and with my mouth I prayed, "Father, please help me find my mother's keys."  That's when I first heard God's voice. 

I do not think I heard an audible voice; but this time it was a voice and not just a thought. I had never heard it before that day.  The voice was clear with a distinct tone and resonance.  It gave me a very simple instruction.  The voice said, "Look down."  That's when the second miracle took place.  Even though I had walked across that same stretch of grass, both with and without my friends, several times and had looked directly at it immediately before having stopped and prayed - knowing there was no way in the world those keys could be anywhere near where I was standing - I still obeyed the voice.  I looked down, and there were my mother's keys.  I thanked God, told my friends, and hurried home. 

Several months later I was attending a meeting hosted by a traveling evangelist.  I had told many of my friends the story of the voice and the keys and had invited them to attend this meeting.  I was young and naive (okay, so I'm still naive) so I was taken by surprise when the evangelist took up an offering.  As the paper bucket was winding its way down the long row toward me I heard that same voice say,  just as clearly and distinctly as it had the first time, "Give them two dollars."  I had no question in my mind about the author of that voice so I was eager to obey it.  I reached into my pocket, removed my wallet, reached inside, and found single dollar bill; nothing more.  This may seem a simple thing to you, but I was devastated. 

How could this voice that must be God have erred?  If He had the capacity to catch my attention in a way I'd never known before at the very moment I was about to walk past my mother's keys for the umpteenth time, how could He not know that I did not have two dollars to give?  I was certain this was the same voice.  There was no mistaking it.  I was certain He could not have made a mistake.  But I could not reconcile how He could have given me an instruction it was impossible for me to obey.  I was perplexed and still powerless to obey.  So I sat and, once again completely against all my natural predispositions, I waited for an answer to appear.  Meanwhile the while the collection bucket drew closer to me by the second. 

Then the voice said, "Look in your Bible."  It is difficult for me to express the sense of both joy and relief I experienced in that instant.  I had used a one-dollar bill to book mark a page in my Bible almost a week before that meeting took place and I had completely forgotten about it.  I grabbed the bill from the book just in time to drop the $2.00 into the bucket like the voice had told me. 

Please remember that I was not anticipating either of these events.  Neither was consistent with anything I ever had experienced.  I understand that these events perhaps could be explained by some natural phenomena.  I appreciate that either event's occurrence in a vacuum could be explained by mere chance.  But if you ever experience two such events, then you probably will obey that voice without arguing just the way I do now. 

I have not heard this voice many other times, but I have obeyed it each time.  Each time its instruction has been correct.  The little bit I do understand about the laws of probability influence me to conclude that this voice is real. 

This is not the way the Holy Spirit usually communicates with me.  I will try to explain that in a later entry.  But these were the first two events that made it possible for me to believe that God might be gracious, kind, loving and forgiving enough to speak to me.  Before that, I had no evidence that He ever would speak to me or that I would be able to discern His voice. 

As I have written more than one time in this blog, I would not expect anyone to believe any of this is true just because I say it. I would hope, however, that some readers would be provoked to sufficient curiosity to consider the possibility that God might be kind enough to speak simple instructions even to a person so undeserving as I am. My encouragement is, if He will do that for me ,then He certainly is kind enough to do the same for you.

Please approach Him in your own way.  Ask Him what He wants you do do.  Be willing to accept  whatever happens.  Do not try to insist that God speak to you in any certain way or on any certain subject.  Be open to the possibility that He might have something more important to say to you than whatever happens to be occupying your attention.  He is God, not a Magic Eight Ball!  Be willing to admit that you don't know what you don't know, and it is amazing what He might reveal to you. 

After you do these things, please share your results with us here. 

"Those people who say they hear god talking to them scare me to death!"

An acquittance said something along those lines at a small gathering not too long ago.  Some obviously deranged person had committed an act of unspeakable violence and gained national media attention after telling law enforcement officers that god had told him to kill a bunch of people.  (Why does the media encourage such atrocities by publicizing these lunatics' rantings?) 

I have yet to hear of any person use that excuse without thinking he was either crazy or lying.  Fortunately I am not responsible for judging such people. 

Yet I speak regularly with people who tell me that god has somehow communicated with them; whether through circumstances, feelings, voices or other people.  I do not think these people even remotely mentally disturbed.  They are from all walks of life and various spiritual traditions, many being quite different from those I have known.  Their experiences are almost as varied as their personalities and the things they hear seem contradictory to me.  I accept these people as they are and, again, am glad I am not responsible for judging them in any way. 

In the middle of a more recent discussion about differing world views, a good friend suggested that an approach like mine represented some sort of closed system where any idea that contradicted existing conclusions must be rejected without further contemplation because it contradicts God's perceived will.  My friend seemed genuinely indignant.  His apparent position was that anyone who rejects an idea as being against God's will is arrogant because there is no way any human being could be aware of God's will. 

After contemplating my friend's suggestion as openly and honestly as I could for many hours over the next few days, this post pretty well reflects what I have been able to conclude about my own experience.  I would appreciate any suggestions that might help me correct or refine these ideas. 

First and foremost, I do not expect anyone to believe anything just because I say it.  Second, my experiences of hearing God's voice has influenced me to be less arrogant than I was before that process commenced, because my continuing response has been "Who am I that God might be aware of my existence, much less that He should condescend to speak to me?"  But if God has in fact seen fit to speak to me, then who am I to question His judgment?  That is one of the most difficult conclusions I've ever had to draw.

As I have tried to listen for God's voice, the things He has said have required me to change my mind about quite a few things through the years.  I have had to repent.  I've had to admit I was wrong, ask to be forgiven, and ask for His help to turn and go in a new direction.  I frequently have had to adjust my behavior as well as my thoughts.  That process almost always is difficult, but rewarding.  I suspect He will continue to correct me so long as I continue listen to His voice. 

One byproduct of that process is that, in those instances where I am fully persuaded that I have heard His instruction, I am fully surrendered to His will and not to my own.  Is that not what humility seeks; to subject one's own decisions and value structure to those of some higher or more noble authority?  As I perceive that condition, I am not right.  I merely am surrendered to the will of the One who is right. 

Am I completely missing the point here? 

Sometimes hearing requires waiting.

I am not by nature a patient person. I am not particularly fond of waiting. Pleasant thoughts do not bombard my conscious mind every time I have to wait; whether it's in a line at a store, for a traffic light to change, for the next spot in the arena restroom to come open, or for my wife to finish dressing. That is about as kindly as I can describe myself any time I am required to wait.

Decades of experience tell me that waiting is a necessary element of any life, and I have yet to accept it for what it is or learned to endure it well - much less to enjoy the process.

We were speaking in the last entry about hearing God's voice. That process requires listening. In my experience it also frequently requires waiting. How foolish it is of me to be surprised by this discovery!

The psalmists understood this process. "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." (Ps. 27:14) "Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes." (Ps. 37:7) "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him." (Ps 62:5) "I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning." (Ps. 130:5-6)

Through the prophet Isaiah God declared "Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame." (Isa. 49:23) And Jeremiah (Ch.14:22) declares, "Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? Therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things."

Holy scripture repeatedly encourages us to wait on God, to trust Him while we wait, and when the time is right He will perform what needs to be done and will reveal to us what we need to know.
Even more surprising is the fact that God actually waits on us. "And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him." (Isa 30:18)

How arrogant I must be! I grow impatient waiting for God to answer my questions or to solve my problems, as though the one who created the universe should be my servant or owe me anything. Yet in spit of my arrogance He is waiting on me; waiting for me to be ready to receive the mercy He has in store for me!

Perhaps we should wait a bit longer while that sinks in.  While I am being impatient, fretful or even angry, God is waiting on me so he can show me His mercy! 

I Must Listen For His Voice

Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." (John 10:27)

A friend recently related to me how he had shouted down a fundamentalist (I believe he called the person "a right winger Christian") by asking him, since the other guy said he took The Bible literally, "How does it feel to be a sheep?" I saw no need to respond at the time. My friend was in transmit mode and his receiving program appeared to be shut down at that moment. The fact that I did not try to reason (okay, I wanted to argue with him, I admit it!) is a small miracle in itself. Instead, I contemplated my friends story. Later that evening after I had decided that it felt quite nice to be a sheep, I almost called my friend to thank him but I realized I still just wanted to argue with him.

How wonderful it is to be a sheep! I do not have to know the answers. I do not have to understand how things work or why they happen. I do not have to be able to explain anything to anybody. I am not responsible for their enlightenment. All I have to do is hear my master's voice and follow it where ever it leads me.

I will try to revisit this in a few days. For now, it might help us all to contemplate this process from our individual perspectives.

A Simple Change Of Mind Was Not Enough

Having surrendered to the inevitability of this new perspective, implementing it was a very different thing.  No matter how much I studied or how hard I worked, some of these paradoxes still eluded me.  In other instances I seemed completely incapable of following even the most basic of instructions. 

Several people offered answers to many of these questions, but their solutions seldom reconciled.  Picking the proposed solution that made the most sense to me or that most quickly alleviated the resulting anxiety eventually proved ineffective.  I needed help.  I needed help from a source whose experience and authority exceeded my own and who proved more reliable than anyone else I knew at the time.  Little did I know that same Jesus already had provided just what I needed. 

Jesus promised to send me a helper.  Jesus called this helper the Holy Spirit and said he would teach me everything I needed to know.  (John 14:16-29)  This was going to lead to another problem, because some people (Jesus referred to them as "the world") would not be able to detect this Holy Spirit or become familiar with him.  (John 14:17)  The Apostle Paul warned us that these communications from the Holy Spirit would not make sense to people who did not know how to relate to him or discern his instruction.  (I Corinthians 2:12-16)  They lack the requisite capacity to be aware of or to sense whatever the Holy Spirit sees fit to communicate, leading to the understandable result that they would reject any conclusions based on the evidence He offered. 

Another problem lies in the fact that different people purport to receive apparently conflicting communications from the Holy Spirit at the same time.  This can happen even among the most accomplished of those who endeavor to follow Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  Chapter 15 of the Book of The Acts of the Apostles tells us how Paul and Barnabas could not agree on whether to take John-Mark with them on their second missionary journey.  The text does not tell us that the two men prayed or asked for the Holy Spirit's instruction.  Perhaps they did not do that.  Perhaps one of them did and the other did not.  Perhaps both did and perceived to have heard differing instructions.  The text does not tell us.  The text does tell us that an irritation or contention over this issue became so extreme that they elected to go their separate ways. 

As unverifiable as this help seemed to be, it was and is the only solution to my problem I have been able to identify as having been provided by Jesus and His Father.  I was going to have to learn how to develop a sensitivity to His communication methods.  Being wholly unable to explain - much less detect - this newly discovered presence in my life,  I had no other options.  I had to approach this Holy Spirit in the best way I could identify and ask His help.  I did not know how to ask His help, so I just did it.  I got down on my knees and asked this Holy Spirit to reveal Himself to me and to help me.  He did.  He continues to do so today, so long as I remember to stop and ask Him for his instruction and help.

I Had To Get A New Set Of Glasses

Without getting too bogged down in the details, I was having problems with the book they called The Bible.  Its local advocates claimed that God was somehow responsible for its contents and that He had chosen to reveal a part of Himself and of His will to people through it.  God did not appear be a very effective author because some parts of His book did not make sense to me.

The Bible claimed that God could not lie, yet certain of its passages contradicted what I knew for a fact to be true.  Other parts seemed to contradict one another.  If God can do anything, then how is it not possible that He might lie? 

Perhaps the most obvious example of The Bible's apparent flaws, to me anyway, was its claim that Jesus had said that it was more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).  In my seventeen vast years of experience, I never had found that to be true.  I always enjoyed receiving gifts.  I found even a modest amount of pleasure in receiving clothes for Christmas or my birthday presents.  I certainly found that more satisfying than than giving away anything. 

My simple mind offered only three possible solutions to this dilemma:  (1) Jesus was wrong; (2) The Bible had not accurately recorded Jesus' words; or (3) there was a very slim chance that I might not be one hundred percent correct.  The last of those options was the least likely to apply because I was absolutely certain of what I had seen, heard, felt and known up to that point and all of those things screamed to me that this part of The Bible had to be wrong. 

I was troubled by the obvious limitations exhibited by any deity who was not be able to maintain the integrity of his own publication.  Since by definition an all powerful being could not be subject to limitations,  that lead me to focus my attention on the unlikely integrity of the book itself.  If God by definition was not fallible, then it was impossible for Him to author a flawed book.  If any portion of The Bible was unreliable, then I could perceive no way to have confidence in any of it. 

There are few events I am likely to remember until my dying day, but this almost certainly is one of them.  I was driving home from work one afternoon stewing over this dilemma when the thought occurred to me, "Why don't you try it and see what happens?" 

For perhaps the first time in my life, I acted on a good idea.  I gave and I liked it!  Giving did not have to mean that I had lost something.  Done with the proper attitude it could be a rewarding experience.  So I elected to give some more.  The results have far exceeded the pleasant feelings the practice generated.  The list of benefits is extensive and far exceeds the purpose of the present post. 

The primary point is that I actually had been wrong!  Me?  Of all people!  As absurd as it seemed at the time, what I knew I had seen, heard and experienced was not necessarily the most reliable source of information for making some decisions.  If this change of approach had been able to alter the results in one decision making area of my life, was there a chance that it might impact other areas as well?  My experience since that date suggests that the answer is yes!

I had been experiencing the world through lenses that were filtering what really existed and were allowing me to see less than the entire picture.  I did not know what I did not know.  This was my first step toward trying to identify and discard my self-limiting filters.  The process continues so long as I will remain active and attentive to it.