The Valley: An Invitation To Hear The Voice of God

 

Ezekiel.

He had a commission by God to be a watchman.

You can read all about it in chapter 3, verses 16-27 of the book that bears his name.

The call on his life was heavy.

God told him, “Whenever you receive a message from Me, warn the people immediately…. If I give you a warning, but you fail to give the message to them, they will die in their sins.  And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.  If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep sinning, they will die in their sins but you will have saved yourself because you obeyed Me.”

It was all about obedience to the call of God on his life.

And then I see it.
It’s so hard to miss.

Verse 22, “Then the Lord took hold of me and said, ‘Get up and go out into the valley, and I will speak to you there.’”

In the earlier chapters of Ezekiel we find that he had been stationed, “beside the Kebar river in Babylon.”  (1:1, 3:15)

He’d been along a river, but now was asked to, “go out into the valley”, and God would speak to him there.

I thought a lot about this.

Why the valley, God?
It’s lonely there.
It’s uncomfortable there.
It’s seemingly unprofitable there.

And yet it was PRECISELY where God would have him to be.

He had to get him quiet.
He had to get him sequestered from the crowds.
He had to limit the prophets exposure to distractions that might serve to disable him.

And the same could be for you and me.

I know the loneliness, friend.
I know the feeling of unworthiness.  Much more than you know.
The valley can often make us feel like maybe He got something wrong.

But He didn’t.
He knows just what He’s doing.
He knows the very things to protect you from, and He’s already created space in the valley to offer divine solutions to the battles you were never created to fight.

I love Ezekiel’s response, too.
“So I got up and went there and I saw the glory of the Lord… And I fell face down on the ground.”  (verse 23)

The invitation to a valley experience is always for our benefit.
There’s always something just up ahead more magnificent than we could have ever imagined!!

Keep going, friend!

The valley is the perfect place to hear His voice speaking life to your dry bones.

- Wendy Bender, Inspire Ministries, 2021

Submission To God

 

All around us is mystery.
Uncertainty.
We don't have all the answers.
Not one of us does.

And on a Tuesday morning in May my heart feels heavy.

“God, there’s still so much to do.  And yet I don't know what you would have me do.”

It's the honest cry of my heart as of late.

That one along with this, “God, what are You doing?”
And even still… “What is MY role in Your plan?”

Submission is an interesting word.

The word submit, by definition means this, “to yield, resign, or surrender to the power, will, or authority of another; to give up resistance; to yield without murmuring.”

It’s the Jesus way of living.  It’s how He did it.
Scripture tells us that He submitted to the authority of His Father even unto death.

James 4:7 tells us that we are to, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee.”
And still somehow we forget that first part.
"Submit to God.”

Just submit.
Fully yield.
Resign.
Surrender.
Give up resistance.
Yield without murmuring.

And yet it seems so difficult when all seems so uncertain and unstable.

But submitting is admitting that I can not do this on my own.
Submitting is placing trust in the One who sees the bigger picture.
Submitting is surrendering the need to know now, that which will only make sense then.

Submission requires my full compliance even when the outcome is still shrouded in mystery.  Even when there are still more answers than questions.  It’s allowing His Holy work to be done in and through me to deliver divine results that only He can accomplish.

- Wendy Bender, Inspire Ministries, 2021

Peace

 

Peace.

 

It’s a funny thing.

 

And for us humans, it tends to be a conditional mindset and contingent lifestyle we posses.

 

We are inclined to say things like, “I will be more at peace when this happens.” And things like, “My mind will be at peace if this goes my way.”

 

We view our peace as conditional upon “right circumstances.”

 

But did you know, as followers of Jesus Christ, we POSSESS peace already?

 Scripture tells us that it’s a "fruit of the Spirit" for those who are saved by Jesus. (Gal 5:22)

 

It’s not only something we already have in our possession… it’s something we are instructed to maintain.

 

Psalm 34:14 says, "Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.”

Mark 9:50 says, “...be at peace with one another.”

2 Cor 13:11 says, “Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

1 Cor 7:15 says, “…God has called us to peace.

 

We are to SEEK peace.

PURSUE peace.

BE AT peace.

LIVE in peace.

 

We are CALLED to peace.

 

And so maybe we can do some investigation into why we don't currently have peace.

 

Is it because we don’t have that new pair of shoes we want?


Is it because they took our favorite show off the air?

Is it because my co-worker is increasingly hard to get along with?

Is it because illness lingers in my physical body?

Is our peace contingent upon something happening or an experience ceasing?

If we don’t have peace, the best thing for us to do is

• decide why
• recall where it is we last saw it (where WE left it)
• repent our way back to it

Repentance comes from acknowledging that we mishandled what was to be in our possession the entire time.

 

Repentance means self-examination that leads me back to the very things that can secure my peace regardless of situations and circumstances.

 

Things like spending time with Jesus and the Word of God.

 

Returning to Him and asking Him for the help only He can provide.

 

God help us.

 

The time is urgent.