Hey Millennials, Ever Feel Like God Leaves You on Read??? (#relatable) - R

My manager is telling me that the youngsters respond well when I try to relate to them.

I want to tell you a little story.

In the summer of 2016, I was confused. This by itself is nothing groundbreaking, as I am frequently confused to a dangerous degree. For the first time, though, I was confused about my future. I had, one year prior, decided to go to the University of Alabama to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. The more perceptive readers may note that I do not in fact attend that university nor am I pursuing that degree. Enter confusion.

So there I was, laying in bed one night, writing a note to a girl because I've got mad game. When a thought pops into my head. You're probably familiar with the sensation. You've probably thought something like, I didn't lock my door on the way out, or I really don't give Riley enough presents. And then the thought will exit, leaving only a fleeting impression of its existence at all. My thought was a little stranger.

What if I'm supposed to be at ACU to pursue ministry?

I don't know if brain cells can scoff, but if they can, every single one of mine scoffed at that thought. Because that's absurd! The entire time I was looking at colleges, I never glanced at ACU, truthfully because I thought I could do more. I thought that I could be more than ACU would make me. I thought that I shouldn't settle for a small private school when I did so well in high school, when I had so many opportunities in front of me, and when I knew that I could land an amazing job directly out of college.

Plus . . . ministry?!

At that point, I hadn't believed in God in well over a year. I had struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts and had cried out repeatedly for God to save me, never receiving a response. I was ready to do life without faith.

So this thought was laughable at best, and I was ready to throw it away like all other weird thoughts. But here's the deal - it didn't go away. For days, it stuck in my head much like songs do. It crouched just behind my forehead, ready to ruin my day if I ever stopped to examine it.

After days of this, I began to suspect that this thought might be important. So I did something that I hadn't done in a very very long time.

I called out to God.

I told him that if this was something that he wanted, I needed a sign. I needed him to tell me what I was supposed to do. Because I can't afford to be this confused right now.

I'm beginning my third year at ACU. And I never looked back.

Before you ask exactly what the sign I received was, I want to tell you another story.

Most know of Elijah and how he completely humiliated the prophets of Baal in a head to head contest between his God and their god (see 1 Kings 18). But there's one little detail in there that most don't remember from Sunday school as a kid.

Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. - 1 Kings 18:40

Dark ending right? So understandably, the king and queen aren't too pleased that their prophets puppets were just murdered, so the queen, Jezebel, sends Elijah a death threat. Elijah flees in fear, and starts having a heart to heart with God. He essentially says that he has done everything right, but the people have rejected him and his message, and he is completely lost. What follows is, to me, one of the most powerful glimpses of how God works in our entire Bible.

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. 

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too. 

The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” - 1 Kings 19:11-18

When I asked God for a sign, I was looking for a powerful wind. Or an earthquake. Or a fire.  Or a giant, flashing, neon sign. Or an angel to drop down with a scroll describing my entire life's plan. I didn't get any and I was pretty hurt by that.

But I did get a whole lot of whispers.

I did get small nudges. I did get thoughts that wouldn't leave me alone. I did have multiple doors open before me. I did have multiple people put in my path who were ready and willing and able to help wherever possible.

I, like Elijah, was convinced either that God didn't have a plan, or was choosing not to tell it to me. But maybe I just wasn't listening correctly.

Why would we expect God to need to shout for us to hear him?

I originally came up with two answers, and you may be thinking one or both of these. For one, God is just a powerful being. He created the universe with a word, he parted the sea and then swallowed the enemy inside of it. I expect a big noise from a big God. And for another thing, we as people are just dumb. Maybe he needs to talk real loudly to cut through my own stupidity and make sure that he's heard.

I think these are both plausible, but I don't think either is correct.

Maybe we need him to shout because of how far away from ourselves we've placed him.

The thing about whispering is that you need to be reeeeaaaaaallllll close to hear it. Uncomfortably close, some would say. There's a certain intimacy that comes with it, a closeness required only for deeper relationships. And if we hold God at arm's length, much like I attempted to do, we're going to miss quite a bit of what he has to say.

And I think it's important to note that God isn't whispering to us to frustrate us. He doesn't want us to miss things. He wants to invite us in. He wants us to incline our heads and lean forward. He wants us to approach him to hear what he has to say. Because he knows that no matter what life we want to live, a life lived in close relationship with him is the life we need to live.

If you're tired of feeling like you're screaming into the void, maybe it's time to remove that void between you and God.

Every time I'm in a season of life where I'm struggling, I always feel as if God has turned a deaf ear. And I always have to remind myself that what has likely happened is I have begun to distance myself from God and am now unable to hear his whisper.

I assure you, God is speaking to you. Even now. It's time to start listening, and listening closely.

~RJS~