Stopping to Listen

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For you formed my inward parts;             you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;             my soul knows it very well. --Psalm 139:13-14 I want you to picture your heart, that powerful machine pumping inside your chest. Believe it or not, it’s about the size of your fist and weighs less than a half a pound. Yet in less than twelve hours, it does enough work to lift 65 tons off the ground!  And not only that, but if you were to line up the veins, arteries, and capillaries of the average adult end-to-end, they would stretch over 60,000 miles. That’s nearly 2 ½ times around the world! Three millennia ago, before any of these facts would’ve been known, the psalmist said we are fearfully and wonderfully made. How can any rational person look at the human body and not see a divine hand in its design? You are created by God, not in a factory, but custom-made unlike any other person in the world. God made creation. He constructed light years upon light years of universe. Yet that very same God also knit you together in your mother’s womb. He intricately crafted you before you even took your first breath as a newborn baby. You have significance. You’re not the product of an accident. God created you; He sustains you; and He loves you. Praise Him today for that amazing fact! THE GOD WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE ALSO INTRICATELY WOVE YOU TOGETHER. YOU’RE NO ACCIDENT. PRAISE GOD FOR HIS AMAZING WORK!

Stopping to Listen

Friday, November 15, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“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

We live in a world filled with voices that clamor for our attention. What social scientists refer to as “information overload” poses challenges as we try to sort out the true from the false, and the important from the ephemeral. One of the most important disciplines of the Christian life is taking the time to stop and listen to God’s voice. The great missionary David Brainerd wrote, “In the silences I make in the midst of the turmoil of life I have appointments with God. From these silences I come forth with spirit refreshed, and with a renewed sense of power. I hear a voice in the silences, and become increasingly aware that it is the voice of God.”

If we are constantly running from place to place, and constantly bombarded with information, it will be easy to miss the “still small voice” with which God speaks. That is why He calls us to take the time to stop and listen. “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10). We all need to hear wise counsel from trusted voices. We need to benefit from the experiences of others. But above all else, we need to stop to listen to what God has to say. When we open His Word and take it to heart, we are equipped for His work.

Today's Growth Principle: 

We are not prepared to go out and minister to others until we have first stopped to listen to God ourselves.