...so what I'm wondering is, if it took just 400 years of silence for these people to "miss" their Messiah's coming, what about us, 2000+ years later?
I wonder how our kingdoms (even the Christian ones) get in the way of letting Jesus be King.
I wonder how often I am Herod...too often, I think.
I wonder, even within the Church, how often we're staring Him right in the face and don't even know it b/c we're too busy singing our songs and proclaiming our message.
I wonder how our kingdoms (even the Christian ones) get in the way of letting Jesus be King.
I wonder how often I am Herod...too often, I think.
I wonder, even within the Church, how often we're staring Him right in the face and don't even know it b/c we're too busy singing our songs and proclaiming our message.
I wonder what He would say if we would all just quiet down.
Silence. God waited through 400 years of silence before sending His Son. I don't think it's an accident that quietness was part of the plan. Maybe the other voices needed to fade. Maybe a craving had to arise within the heart of mankind for the sound of God on earth again.
I think I feel that craving. I'm craving a quietness - when our fingers stop typing, the harmonies stop competing and the sermons stop attacking. When the Do's and the Don'ts and the Don'ts and the Do's just hush a minute...
Silence. God waited through 400 years of silence before sending His Son. I don't think it's an accident that quietness was part of the plan. Maybe the other voices needed to fade. Maybe a craving had to arise within the heart of mankind for the sound of God on earth again.
I think I feel that craving. I'm craving a quietness - when our fingers stop typing, the harmonies stop competing and the sermons stop attacking. When the Do's and the Don'ts and the Don'ts and the Do's just hush a minute...
I'm craving a silence long enough for His sound to be heard again - not just His Voice, but His Sound.
A voice is largely identifiable, but a sound - a sound is recognized through intimacy, through experience. I know the sound of my dad's coming - I know the jingle of his keys, the clearing of his throat, the stroke of his pen. I know when he is there and when he is not by his sound.
I wonder what the sound of God is on the earth today. I wonder if we even notice it. I wonder if we recognize it.
I don't know what that sound is, but I have an idea. Still, today I'm challenged to silence all of my ideas in the hope that He will be heard. His voice, His sound, His breath, His coming.
Sssshhhh...
Jesus has something He wants to say...
I heard His sound once. It was magnificent. I was adventure racing through the White River Nat'l forest. I was tired and prayed to Him for help. I looked down and saw Aspen leaves, as I had before on another race, and thought about how He goes out before us, leading the way. I envisioned Jesus dropping these leaves as if crumbs for me to follow. Then I heard it. The rushing sound of God. As Ezekiel said, "like the sound of rushing waters... like the tulmut of an army." The entire forest shook, the winds brushed the tall Evergreend trees sideways, and it was if the mere hem of His garment had brushed the earth. I was humbled and felt God say, "I am God. I am Jesus. But I am not man nor am I anything that you can understand. I am all powerful, all knowing, and ever present. Yet I am still here for you in ways bigger than you could ever imagine." I had to get off my bike, kneel in the middle of the forest, and praise a God so big that He is unfathomable, yet at the very same time, He is more than fathomable, He is my Abba. I will never, ever forget that experience, for it was a burning bush moment for me and I know that I surely was standing on holy ground and the footstool of my King. -Todd
ReplyDelete