Call to God

What a wonderful privilege and opportunity we have to bring our requests to the LORD in prayer!  Speaking to God has none of the hindrances we experience with modern phones.  We can call but it does not mean anyone is available to talk.  They may not receive or hear a notification, and when we leave a message it can go unread and unanswered.  Our phones can run out of battery or be out of the range of networks which renders communication using them impossible.  Communication with God depends upon the LORD who knows and does all things, God who does not slumber or sleep, and His ears are always open to our cries.  The God who appeared to Solomon and said, "Ask!  What shall I give you?" is just as eager and willing to respond to our praying.

The Bible has many examples of people who were locked up and prevented from contacting others yet had continuous communion with God--and sometimes it was God who initiated the call!  Jeremiah 33:1-3 says, "Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, ² "Thus says the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it to establish it (the LORD is His name): ³ 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'"  While Jeremiah was imprisoned, the God who created all things spoke to Jeremiah and invited him to call.  He did not need a mobile phone, data plan, to remember the country code and input a correct sequence of numbers:  Jeremiah only needed faith in the LORD God and willingness to pray.  He was not given the right to a single call but could speak with God continuously night and day by God's grace.  God promised to show him "...great and mighty things, which you do not know."  We can be swept up with wanting to know what to do, God's plans, or details concerning the future, but there is nothing greater or mightier than God Himself.  In learning to pray and calling to God in obedience we come to know God in ways we hadn't before.

It is faith in God that gives urgency in praying, confident God's will shall be done.  Though our lives on earth are a brief moment in time in the light of eternity, have you considered how your prayers do not have a shelf life?  They will not pass away with us.  Though we may not see the fulfillment of our request in person, we can know God will hear and answer as we pray according to His will.  There were Hebrews for hundreds of years born into slavery in Egypt who died there, yet their prayers for God to deliver his people were heard by Him.  The voices of those who perished under their burdens were in God's good time answered in the affirmative when He led the children of Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand by Moses.  Pleas of intercession on behalf of God's people continued unabated even after voices were silenced by the grave until God did His wonders.  If it is worthwhile praying once, we are to pray without ceasing to God who invites us to call to Him and is inclined to show favour and goodness for thousands of generations.

God is longsuffering, but He is never slack.  God who sends lightning hurtling to earth faster than our eyes can perceive is able to answer our prayers in an instant; before we ask He is ready to answer.  David prayed in Psalm 86:6-7:  "Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. ⁷ In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, for You will answer me."  The same God who promised to reveal to His servants what to say in their hour of need (Matthew 10:19) is able to hear us in the day of trouble, answer and save.  Praise the LORD our sins which once separated us from God have been atoned for and purged by Jesus whose hands are extended to save and has ears that hear our prayers (Isaiah 59:1-2).

A New Name

Conceiving a child proved difficult for Rachel, and at one stage she said to her husband Jacob:  "Give me children or I die!"  He was angry with her request, for she demanded children from him that can only be given by God.  Jacob had done his part best he could, but Rachel's conception was beyond his power.  In time she did bring her request to God who responded to her in Genesis 30:22:  "Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb."  Rachel's firstborn son was Joseph, and she was confident God would give her another son.  He was birthed into the world in sorrowful circumstances.

Genesis 35:16-19 says, "Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labour. ¹⁷ Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, "Do not fear; you will have this son also." ¹⁸ And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. ¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)."  Rachel could not have known the last thing she would do as she was losing consciousness was name her son Ben-Oni which means, "son of sorrow."  Perhaps she realised she was not long for the world and sorrowed to leave her sons.

Though Rachel called her son Ben-Oni, Jacob overruled her and called him Benjamin--son of the right hand.  He did not allow Rachel's sorrowful passing overshadow his newborn son's life and future.  Jacob himself had been given a new name by God.  Jacob means "supplanter" or "heel-catcher" but he was called Israel by God he wrestled and prevailed with his tearful pleas to be blessed.  He became "one who struggles with God" and prevailed because of God's grace and goodness.  The remainder of his life Israel (Jacob) walked with a limp because of his encounter with God, and Benjamin embarked on the rest of his life without a mother and a new name because his father loved him.

This tragic and endearing passage reminds me how God brings life out of death, for while we were dead in sins, Christ demonstrated His love to die for us.  Because of who Jesus is and all He has done we can be born again and receive eternal life--something better than a name change.  Our sin only brought sorrow to God, us and the world, yet God has looked upon us favourably and adopted us as His own children by the Gospel.  We even read Jesus has a new name yet to be revealed for each one who overcomes through faith in Him in Revelation 2:17:  "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."  Aren't we blessed beyond measure God has overruled sorrow and death and given us a new life and identity in Him?  Our new birth comes with fullness of joy and peace forever.

Jesus Has Overcome

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

When Jesus told His disciples on the night He was betrayed they would not seem Him for a little while, and they would each be scattered to their own.  In a little while they would again see Him, and Jesus revealed He was going to the Father.  He spoke to them in proverbs they did not understand fully at the time, but they could bank on their sorrow being turned to joy that could not be taken from them.

From a human perspective there was not much comfort in what Jesus said because they could not comprehend what Jesus meant or how their lives would be impacted.  They expected and hoped Jesus would remain with them, so to hear He would soon be leaving was an impediment to peace and joy.  Yet in His wisdom Jesus summed up His long conversation with His disciples by saying, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace."  This is a principle that remains in force today and forever for all Christians regardless of our circumstances of life.  In Jesus the disciples would have peace by faith in Him even when He was arrested, crucified and breathed His last.  They would have peace in Jesus after He ascended to heaven and they were hauled before magistrates who wanted to silence and kill them.

In the midst of tribulation God's people can be of good cheer because Jesus has overcome the world.  Notice Jesus said this in past tense before His crucifixion.  If Jesus said, "I will overcome," current tribulation and trials Christians face might prompt us to wonder if having peace today is even possible.  Jesus overcoming the world was not due to His crucifixion or anything He would do but on the basis of who He is, all He has promised and accomplished.  I am reminded of the word of God spoken to Baruch by the prophet Jeremiah who thought God had added grief to his sorrow and rest proved elusive.  The LORD spoke to Baruch in Jeremiah 45:5 with words that align with Jesus' words to His disciples:  "And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh," says the LORD. "But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go."  When we seek great things for ourselves, our perspective can be distorted to lose sight of Christ who is greatest and grants eternal life to all who trust Him.

Those who hear Jesus and obey His word He likens to a wise man who built his house upon the rock that could withstand all storms.  The winds will lash and the waters churn, yet in Jesus we have peace because He has overcome the world.  Jesus bids all come to Him, and just because we are familiar with the verses or have them memorised does not mean we faithfully do our part to trust and daily come to Him with our troubles.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  When life is all too much, in Jesus we continually find peace and rest for our souls.  

A More Excellent Way

Paul exhorted the believers in Corinth to walk in the way of God's love and to desire spiritual gifts.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit and bearing good spiritual fruit is paramount for a Christian, and the greatest of these is love.  He asked in 1 Corinthians 12:29-31:  "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way."  While God has comprised the church of people who serve in a variety of roles and have spiritual gifts that differ from one another, God's love is what ought to govern us always.

Paul told Christians to earnestly desire the best spiritual gifts, and in saying this he is not pitting gifts God gives against one another in a sort of competition.  Even as we learn to choose to use the right tool for the job, the best gifts are those divinely suited for an occasion as He leads.  The operation of spiritual gifts prompt us to trust God and throw ourselves upon His mercy to help us use them wisely and appropriately.  It is likely one reason why Paul urged Christians to earnestly desire spiritual gifts is because they were not sure where a gift from God began or ended; gifts did not appear as apples or oranges that could be plucked from a tree.  Perhaps it seemed presumptuous to desire a spiritual gift because they were not clearly defined, browsed like wares at a market or exchanged for currency we possess.  When it comes to eating new foods, I often defer to people who have knowledge of that cuisine and what seems most appealing to me.

What we see and experience creates a predicament when it comes to spiritual gifts because under the guise of spirituality and usefulness we can desire spiritual gifts for fleshly reasons, for personal validation and status rather than the glory of Jesus and the edification of the church.  One gift may appeal to one person more than another, yet we ought to come to God willing to receive and operate in gifts that are not our personal preference--like when we attend a catered meal and the food is presented before us without us having a choice--where trading is not allowed.  Even before we ever received a spiritual gift we may have been like Samwise Gamgee in the The Lord of the Rings who was not impressed or grateful with the Elven rope Lady Galadriel handed to him because the nice, shiny daggers Merry and Pippin received looked better.  It is good for us to make our requests known to God concerning particular gifts, yet we ought to rejoice in every gift of God He graciously and sovereignly gives us--even those not on our wish list.

God's wisdom is shown in our praying in faith to receive a gift as well as exercising faith to operate in it.  For a myriad of reasons I have observed people not respond well to spiritual gifts even when they were used "decently and in order" as Paul exhorted in 1 Corinthians 14.  The flesh loves to shine, to be seen to do well and be admired, but I have found spiritual gifts bring a sober caution and careful examination of the heart can require prompting from the LORD to step out in faith and obedience.  Using a spiritual gift has resulted in relationships abruptly ending and people leaving the church, yet God has given gifts for us to use as He leads.  The prophet Jeremiah spoke the word of the LORD that was rejected by God's people:  isn't it likely people can still be offended when the Holy Spirit moves today in a way that is not their way?  How important it is for Christians to walk in unity with Jesus Christ and one another as we are led and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do God's will, for then our relationships with one another can be deepened rather than divided over different gifts God gives.  If we ever make gifts our focus, we can easily lose sight of the Giver.

Before I ever asked for any spiritual gifts or desired them at all, I recall being offended as a teen by a fellow youth who received a spiritual gift.  I confess my initial reaction was not to praise the LORD or be encouraged to ask God for spiritual gifts but was like the hard-sleeping harlot who went before King Solomon to resolve a domestic dispute in 1 Kings 3.  She had accidentally smothered her infant whilst she slept, so she rose in the night and switched her dead child with her roommate's living son.  The women appeared before the king and both claimed the living boy was hers.  Solomon commanded a sword be brought and the living child be divided between them--it was fair they both receive half.  The real mother begged the child to be spared while the thieving woman callously agreed to the murder:  she was willing to cut a living child in half out of envy for her loss and lack.  When I heard someone had a gift I didn't, my heart in that moment resembled the envious woman, willing to divide over my own pride.  Brothers and sisters, may we confess and repent when our hearts are thus inclined and neglect to walk in love towards all.  May our compassion identify us as God's own children.