What The Spirit Isn't Saying

THE SPIRIT can speak where you will hear Him, even if you’re not listening. He once used a donkey to stop a prophet from going forward. He was the physical sight of thunder and lightning on the mountain in front of Israel. He also fell like fire from heaven and consumed Elisha’s water-logged sacrifice. He appeared as a hand writing on the wall in front of Belshazzar the king of Babylon. Point is, He will make sure you see what you need to see and make sure you hear what you need to hear. We can rely on this, 100%.

But most often, He does not do something so loud and obvious. He prefers to be quiet, for us to seek Him, to be listening.

“And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11-12)

There is a great misunderstanding of His nature and His intent among many in the church. I’ve heard this implied even among well-known ministers. Many think He is silent because He’s being difficult, that they are in a “teaching moment,” and though He is our Teacher (John 14:26), and though He will use moments in our lives to teach us, usually He simply has nothing to say. Unlike devils, He will not talk simply to be talking.

We have a ripe imagination. It is how He created us. Just go on social media and admire people’s artwork. There are some of the most amazing, unusual creative things being fashioned by people around the world. Go on any music service and search for a popular worship song. You will find some amazing reworkings. But my thought here, to bring that up, is that we think too hard about what the Spirit isn’t saying. We start to imagine He means this or that by His silence, and we’re usually making it condemnation, when His silence has no meaning at all.

First, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. These are the words of Romans 8:1. But also John 3:17 tells us Jesus did not come to condemn to world. So you can write condemnation off entirely. God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – do not condemn. That is sin and darkness. The Spirit will never teach you through the blame game, by weighting you with worry and fear over what you think you’ve done (2 Timothy 1:7). He is far too loving to ever even consider that.

Our problem is we make Him too human. This is what men have done in creating false gods for eons. Take a look at any idol men have worshiped, and the story of how it came into being involves terror, anger, sexual perversion, and other wrong behaviors. Fake gods are consumed by selfishness. Our God, the Hebrew God, isn’t. I call Them that because of its meaning to Israel. The Hebrew God of Old Covenant had a reputation for doing the unexpected. We know, of course, this is because He is real and other nations gods were not. In the story of Jonah, for example, the sailors on the ship knew Jonah was running from a god, but not until they were trapped in a violent storm did they ask him which one, and when he said, “the Hebrew God,” they were terrified (Jonah 1:7-8). I point all this out to keep our view of God as being God and not what our imaginations might cook up.

This is why we study the Word. We place it in our heart because it is Him. What He says in it is for our benefit and knowledge. He wants us to desire Him, to rely upon Him—to KNOW HIM. What we KNOW, we will not be confused by. Who we KNOW, we will rely on or, like the devil’s destroyed works, toss aside. I know the Holy Spirit. We’ve spent time together, and I can tell you He is the gentlest, kindest Spirit. He’s quiet. And to His children, He’s forever desiring us to grow in spiritual knowledge and understanding of spiritual things. His timing reflects His heart for us. What we think is “taking too long,” is Him “being difficult,” is actually for our growth. We can see this when the apostle Paul says he asked three times for God to remove his “thorn in the flesh.” Whether this was a person or a devil or maybe both, we know he said it was a “messenger of Satan”, and then we read Jesus’ reply. “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).”

It IS NOT that God refused to help him, but that Paul needed to lean on God and then a greater work would be done in him.

We do this with our children all the time. We ask them to push themselves and react like an adult, to be stronger and more mature. That is the job of a parent. Our parent, the Holy Spirit, knows everything about everyone, including and especially us. He knows how we think, how we react, what we like and dislike. He knows the future. He is never “taking a guess.” We are. We imagine what will happen and prepare ourselves for it. Often, taking wrong steps. Because, and this is the bottom line: For anything we face, anything we have to do, He is with us, and if we learn to hear Him, if we walk in His Presence all day, every day, then we will always do the right thing and say the right thing. We won’t misunderstand Him anymore.

God does not tempt or test man with evil. James 1:13. He never uses sickness and disease, accident, birth defect, or injury to teach us something. He is our Healer. He does not take away relationships, financial blessing, or any other good thing in order to cause us to grow. But He will ask us to rely on Him for strength, for peace of mind, and for patience and self-control so that what we need comes to us because we’re where we need to be to receive it. We must trust Him in that, laying down our understanding, or misconceptions, and trusting His.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com