| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Hearing from God” Our Bible verse for today: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) Our thought for today: “God is not a helicopter parent” So far this month I have been drawing heavily on Henry Blackaby’s classic work, “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God.” But there’s another important study that’s also very helpful in learning to hear God speaking, and it is “Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God” by Dallas Willard. In that book Dallas taught a lesson about hearing from God that profoundly impacted my own understanding about this, and which led me to adopt Proverbs 3:5-6 (above) as one of my personal life verses. The lesson is that many times, perhaps most of the time, we don’t need to hear from God. Does that surprise you? Sometimes we think we need to be hearing from God all the time; that we need step-by-step instructions, 24/7. In that case God would be like a Marine Corps drill sergeant barking out cadence for us to march to, “Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right” one step after another, marching along in perfect lock-step to His commands. But is that want God wants for us, His children? Wouldn’t that essentially turn us into a bunch of robotic automatons with our every thought, word, and deed dictated for us? Instead, God created us with an intellect that enables us to think things through, and to use our judgment, and to make good choices. Our ability to do that is an essential part of our growth. But if He were to dictate it all for us, how would we ever grow? Think about this in terms of the relationship between a human parent and a child. Don’t we train our children to think for themselves? Don’t we want them to have good judgment and to make good choices on their own? As they grow older don’t we give them more and more freedom and encourage them to use their intellect? Have you ever seen a helicopter parent who treats their 15-year-old as if he or she is still 5? The parent is always hovering in the shadows watching and waiting and then suddenly (frequently) they swoop in to intervene, or give instructions, or even to do the thing for the child. Such a child will be stunted in their intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth. Well, God is not a helicopter parent. And He doesn’t want us to be stunted in our spiritual growth because He constantly intervenes in our decision-making process. Instead, we must learn to live our lives in the will of God, without Him calling cadence or providing a constant stream of instructions. The truth is that we don’t need God to dictate our every thought, word, and deed in order for us to live well and to please Him. This is important, so we will continue thinking about it tomorrow. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville) |
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