Twice in a Lifetime

God speaks. Through his Word, prayer, visions, dreams, or the divine arranging of life’s circumstances—Christians believe God speaks to them as part of their personal relationship with the Father and Son.

And were you to ask any of us, even when we have the Word of God before us in our hands...deep down, we still have difficulty with those dry spells when God is silent. The publishing world is filled with billions of words exploring those deserts.

As God’s children, we’re taught to live out Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” And so we bring everything before the Father’s throne—every petition, every request, every decision we need to make.

Then, we’re many times disappointed because the kind of God we want is one who readily responds with “yes,” or “no” answers, one who gives 24-hour call-backs, one who speaks in clear 20th-century-ese instead of cryptic ancient Hebrew or Greek. In essence, we want a man-made God who thinks like us, not an Alpha and Omega God who strives to transform us to think like Him.

The interesting thing is that in my own life and in the lives of others, I’ve seen that even when God does reveal Himself to us on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis, it’s not enough. We want the communication to be easier, faster, more plentiful. So, we read books and attend seminars to learn how to hear God speak. We look at others who are receiving fresh revelations from God and wonder what they have that we don’t.

And yet, I think we’re getting it all wrong.

The more I look at individuals throughout Scripture, I see stories of men and women who had a healthy relationship with God—but I don’t see where God spoke to them every single day in a “Here’s your simple answer” kind of way.

Yes, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge” (Ps. 19:1-2). God speaks as God each day. But, the intimate speech of relationship isn’t nearly as prolific.

Those times when God doesn’t speak, those “dry spells.” Isn’t that the foundation of faith? Believing in something I cannot hear, see, or feel? I believe so.

Consider one verse, one of those I normally gloss over, even if I’m familiar with the names: “The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel” (Hos. 1:1).

I know historians argue over exact dates, but approximates are good enough for me. One chart gives these dates for the four kings listed above:

Uzziah, King of Judah 790-739 BC
(Jeroboam II, King of Israel) (793-753 BC)
Jotham, King of Judah 750-731 BC
Ahaz, King of Judah 735-715 BC

The Lord’s first words to Hosea were “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife,” implying that he was of marrying age. Add that number to possibly 75 years living in the midst of the four named kings, and you have a lifetime.

Do you see what that means?

God spoke to Hosea all his life, making his entire life an allegory, a message to Israel.

But even though God spoke to Hosea for that many years, His words seem to have been few. Hosea wasn’t a prolific writer. His God-given Word to the people only covers nine pages in my Bible. And critics disagree as to whether those nine pages are composed of two or four messages from God.

Think of it: a prophet of God, one holy enough to make the pages of Scripture--he may have only received two messages from God over the course of an entire lifetime.

God will continue to speak to His children throughout their lives if they will stay devoted and listening. That is comforting. But, God may not speak a novel to each person.

Some of us will simply be required to live by faith for much longer stretches between messages.


Pub. 08.01.10

Knowledge or Application: Approaching Scripture

Higher education is primarily perceived in two different ways--one, as a series of classes to check off in order to achieve the goal of a career and, two, as an institute where learning and knowledge is its own goal.  Both divergent views continually come in conflict with one another, no more so than when fighting over curriculum, over which courses and degrees must be eliminated and which are worthwhile to continue funding.

As an English professor, my career field is ever under attack.  The humanities, which includes literature and philosophy, are seen by many as impractical for those who perceive college as the pursuit of only those things that can be immediately and directly applied in the modern, working world.

Knowledge for knowledge's sake, it seems, is not valued in our present-day, evaluation-prone culture where if it cannot be objectively tested with a series of No.2-filled quantifiable bubbles, then it is not worthwhile.

Yet, I remain an advocate of knowledge that lacks immediate, direct application. Nowhere is learning more important than in my own Christian walk with God.

My pastor has often preached against obtaining knowledge of God without putting it into application, and I wholeheartedly agree that we would do well to heed such a warning.  Reading Scripture but never putting those Words into effect in our own lives is as worthless as reading a CPR manual and then idly watching someone choke to death.

Yet, while this is one incorrect use of Scripture (seeking knowledge yet having no self-application), I would argue there is another incorrect way to approach God's Word--seeking solely after the Word's application to our current circumstances versus seeking knowledge of the One we serve.

In the Lord's rebuke of Israel before they were taken into exile by Assyria, He condemns their lack of knowledge: "They do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.  Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge" (Is. 5:12-13).

The prophet Hosea reiterates the same concept concerning knowledge: "the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land....My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children" (Hos. 4:1,6).

The Israelites were still sacrificing in the temple, still celebrating the feasts and holy days mandated in Leviticus.  They were still doing these outward displays of obedience to the Lord. Yet, their actions were empty because they lacked knowledge of the One they served.  They had forgotten that God wanted faithfulness.  He wanted their hearts, not merely actions of outward show.

Consider what happens if we take an "it's all about me" approach to Scripture, if we open its pages solely in pursuit of what God can tell ME about MY life.  In essence, we open our Bibles automatically looking for a way to apply those words to our lives, which leads us to skip over and maybe even avoid those passages we deem inapplicable, irrelevant, or simply "not about my current circumstances."

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking God's will for our lives through Scripture, I do believe that if we only encounter Scripture with a "what's in it for me" kind of attitude, then we miss out on so much knowledge of who God is, and first and foremost, that is what Scripture is--a love letter to mankind to teach us quite intimately about this God whom we serve.

As with everything, there must be a balance between knowledge and application.  We cannot merely pursue one or the other or we will be found lacking.

This week, I would challenge you to approach God's Word with the intent purpose of learning about God first and only then seeing how this knowledge can impact your life.

There is great merit in such a pursuit.