Let's Call a Spade a Spade // When God Speaks, Part 4

Christianityworks Official Podcast

The reason that so many people who believe in Jesus are struggling is, quite frankly, because they’re not men and women of God’s Word. They don’t take God’s Word seriously. Well, today, that’s something we need to deal with, because there is such an incredible blessing waiting for you, in God’s Word!

God's Work Takes Time

Waiting for something that you really want, waiting and waiting and waiting, is incredibly hard. Particularly if, during that waiting, you’re enduring some kind of hardship. Some sort of suffering. Something that you’ve been asking God for, again and again, for Him to deal with. To bring a resolution to the problem, and end your suffering.

You’ve no doubt been in places where sometimes, it doesn’t seem as though a resolution, an end, is even possible. How long do I have to wait?

Some people find it surprising that the Bible actually deals with that very question. It contains the heart cries of people who are exactly in that position. Like this particular guy, Psalm 119, verses 84 to 88:

How long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me? The insolent have dug pitfalls for me; they do not live according to your law. All your commandments are sure; they persecute me with falsehood; help me! They have almost made an end of me on the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts. In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.

Hmm, it seems like this man is in fear of life itself. We never find out who "they" are, but they are certainly his enemies and they are certainly after his life. It doesn’t get any worse than that. And in that place, it’s easy to shake your fist at God, to be bitter and resentful of God, because he’s not showing up.

Yet notice how this man asks the question: How long must your servant endure? The psalmist remains God’s servant, even when his life is being threatened. This isn’t some fairy-tale. It’s a real man, praying to a real God about the injustice and the danger that he’s facing. And despite those things, he remains faithful to God. He continues to trust God – all your commandments are sure – and he’s not swayed or drawn down to the level of the evil that’s pursuing him.

Even though ‘they’ have almost made an end of him on this earth, he has not forsaken God’s precepts. And he pleads his life into God’s hands, so that when this stuff ends, when his suffering ends, he can continue to do good on this earth. That’s powerful stuff!

If you’re suffering right now, I don’t know when or how your suffering will end. I don’t know how long you still have to endure.

But I know this: In the middle of your suffering, in the middle of even the most dangerous and life-threatening of circumstances, you can choose to remain God’s servant, to do good, to stay in God’s Word and to plead your case, even your life, into God’s hands. In fact that’s the very thing that He wants you to do. Because His love for you reaches to the heavens. His faithfulness to the skies.

When a storm blows in on your life, you need to know the truth about God. You need to know, not just in your head, but in your heart and in your experience. As you look back on your life, what are some of the amazing things that God has already done for you.

I remember, even before I knew God, when I was a three packet a day smoker, He took me to a place, where I watched someone die of lung cancer. I haven’t smoked a single cigarette since and that was over thirty-four years ago. I was set free from a serious addiction in that instant.

God’s hand is on our lives even when we have absolutely no idea. And when we know His love and His faithfulness like that, in our hearts and in our experience, we can, like the psalmist, proclaim:

Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants. If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. (Psalm 119 verses 89 to 92)

When the whole earth shakes and trembles the Word of God is still firmly fixed in the heavens. God’s Word is unshakeable and immovable. When generations pass, as they do, His faithfulness endures. That’s what I call a rock-solid foundation. And it’s that sort of foundation that you and I need in our lives to withstand all the challenges and the storms and the wilderness experiences.

The reason I open my Bible most mornings is because that’s where I choose for my foundations to be. I, like you, have things that come along to rock me and to shake me. Things that could easily blow me over.

I so get it when the psalmist says there, if God’s law, God’s Word, hadn’t been his delight, he would have perished in his affliction.

Let me make it plain and clear. Unmistakable. In God’s Word is your refuge, in God’s Word is your strength. When you sit and listen to Him speaking into your heart, something happens to change you in the most incredible way. I know … I know that many people struggle hugely to get into God’s Word, either because they think that they don’t have time, or they imagine that it’s too difficult.

But take just that one Scripture, Psalm 119, verses 89 to 92, just spend some time in those three verses in the middle of your affliction and I guarantee you that the Holy Spirit will show up. I guarantee you that God will take that Word of His and breathe courage into your heart and life into your weary bones. Because that’s what He does and that’s what He wants to do.

A Powerful Word

I remember back in the days when I worked as a consultant in the corporate world, the brutality of office politics would never cease to amaze me.

And even if you’re not travelling through a patch at the moment, where you don’t seem to have any human enemies, you can be absolutely certain that your enemy the devil is on your case. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12:

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.

And your enemy the devil is a pretty crafty individual. He’s seen it all before. He’s been around the block quite a few times more than you and me, and he knows how to strike you at your weakest point. He knows how to push your buttons. He knows how to lead you astray. 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8:

Be sober-minded and watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Sensational! Now, I’m not the sort of person that goes looking for a demon under every sofa and bed, but there is a spiritual dimension and there is a physical dimension. We live and exist in both places and we have enemies, seen and unseen, in both dimensions.

So, would you like to be wiser than your enemies? Here’s what God has to say – Psalm 119 verses 97 to 101 – have a listen:

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.

So there you have the psalmist praying, talking to God. And he’s saying how much he loves God’s Word, what today we call the Bible. Of course back then, he only had the first five books of the Bible, the law as it's called, because the rest of it hadn’t been written yet.

But why does he love God’s Word? Because God’s commandments make him wiser than all his enemies. They give him more understanding and insight into complex and difficult issues, even more so than his teachers – because he thinks about what God has to say.

Hey, God wants that for you too. He wants to impart His wisdom to you too. He wants to make sure that you are smarter, that you have more insight than your enemies, by speaking His wisdom into your heart. And it’s all right there, in the Bible, ready and waiting!

And it’s never too late. You’re never too old to receive the wisdom of God into your heart.

I want to tell you about a friend of mine, Neil. He’s well into his eighties and he’s lived, shall we say, a pretty colourful life. After a recent operation his body is a bit frail now, but his mind and his wit are as sharp as ever.

Recently, he decided it was time he had a Bible. Here’s how it happened. He’s been coming along to church for years. You know how it is, his wife had been dragging him along. At first he kicked and screamed and he didn’t want to come. But after a few years, it became a bit of a habit.

So, he rushes up to me after a service a few months back and says, “Berni I need your help. I’ve decided you’re right. I need to start reading the Bible. Can you help me buy one?”

Wow, that got me a bit excited, so I did. I ordered a study Bible for him online a few months ago in a contemporary English translation. At which point I promptly forgot about it.

Just the other Sunday, before the service, Neil grabs my hand and says, “It’s changed me you know, that book I’ve been reading.”

Me, I’ve completely forgotten, so I stupidly asked him, “Which book?”

A little surprised he answers, “Well, the Bible of course.” Ding, I remembered.

But there was a light in his eyes. A spark in his voice. He was excited about it, because he realised that through the Bible, God had been speaking to him in a deep, personal, intimate way. God was digging around inside this old man’s heart and unearthing things that had been binding him up and holding him back for decades.

As I watched Neil and listened to the genuine enthusiasm in his voice, it brought such an incredible sense of joy to my heart. Here was a man who had discovered the power of God’s Word. And it reminded me of this beautiful Scripture – Psalm 119 verse 103:

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

We’re genetically programmed to like sugar, because it’s a ready source of energy. Of course these days sugar is in everything and it’s killing us. But back when that Psalm was written, sugar was a rarity. Either you had to be next to a fruit tree in season, or you had to fight the bees for their honey, which was always going to be mildly problematic.

So you can imagine the psalmist talking here about this rare, exquisite, sweet thing called honey. And he’s saying: “God your Word is like honey, only sweeter, only better. I love your Word more than honey.”

Could I ask you plainly: Is that a discovery that, like the psalmist, like Neil, you’ve made in your heart? Because it’s a discovery that’s ready and waiting for you right now. A discovery that’s going to light up your world in a way that’s difficult to imagine.

Darkness is a fact of life. Every night the sun goes down, every morning it comes up again. Light, darkness, light, darkness. It’s an inexorable cycle. And the whole point about darkness is that you can’t see.

I mean, sight is arguably one of the most important of our five senses. If you don’t believe me, blindfold yourself for 24 hours and just see how you get on. So when darkness creeps in on our lives, as it does from time to time, the problem we have is that we can’t see through it.

Think back to the last dark patch that you went through in your life. You were sad, you were broken, you were hurt, you were alone, whatever it was. I’m sure you remember it as though it was yesterday. Hey, it could even be that today is a dark day for you.

So let me ask you, how well did you make decisions in those dark times? Should I go this way, should I go that way? Should I choose this, or let it pass? Should I choose that, or keep away from it because it’s going to hurt me, or because it’s not God’s best for me? It’s not easy is it?

Even when things don’t seem all that dark, the truth is that we’re always making decisions with incomplete information. You and I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. You and I don’t know what other people are thinking and how they’re going to react. You and I don’t know what God’s thinking and what His plans are.

But He does want to tell us. He does want to shed light on the situation for us. He does want to guide our steps. And He does that through His Word. Psalm 119 verses 104 and 105:

Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

In other words, when you read the Bible you get God’s understanding of what’s going on and you don’t want to make the wrong decision. God’s Word lights up your heart. It becomes, in a very real sense, a lamp for your feet, to help you take the next step and the next one after that. And a light to your path, to help you look up and see ahead.

It’s with that light that God wants to light up your heart. It’s that light that God wants to throw out at your feet now, to help you take that next step. It’s that light that God wants to shine on the path ahead, to give you some sense of where it’s going.

No, He probably won’t give you the whole picture, but enough to get you heading in the right direction. He wants to do that for you, right now.

Let’s Get Things Straight Here

Okay, today it’s time to call a spade a spade.

Fact: Most of the people who say that they believe in Jesus, don’t read the Bible on a regular basis.

Fact: Most of the people who say they believe in Jesus, when push comes to shove, will go with instinct over and above what God’s Word says in making a decision – be it a big one, or a small one.

Fact: Most of the people who say they believe in Jesus are suffering through the consequences of sin that could have been avoided, if only they’d given God’s Word sway in their hearts.

I wonder, are you like ‘most Christians’, who don’t take God’s Word seriously enough to allow it to be the guiding light in your life? I’m not here to give you a guilt trip. I am here, simply to help you make up your mind. Psalm 119, verse 113:

I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.

There you have the person who wrote that Psalm, saying to God, “I am so sick of the double-minded. I’ve made up my mind God. I love your Word. I love what you have to say. I love the way that I can be rock solid in my faith, no matter what this world throws at me because I am a man of your Word”. That’s the effect of what he’s saying to God.

Are you in a position to be able to say that to God? Or, to be blunt, are you swinging this way and that?

Well, you know God, I’d love to be like that but reading the Bible, every day, I’m a bit busy you know and I have a lot of pressures you know and … then, I hear a message at church and I realise I should read my Bible, but then life takes over again ... well God, you know how it is.

You see, double-mindedness doesn’t work. James chapter 1, verses 5 to 8:

If any of you lacks in wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

It’s time to make up your mind. Are you going to be a man or a woman of God’s Word, or not? Do you want to live a powerful, victorious life in Jesus, or not? Do you want to have God’s Wisdom, God’s guidance, or not? Do you want to have the joy and the peace that Jesus died and rose again to give you, or not? Because let me tell you, the "or not" quite simply is not God’s will for your life. It’s just not.

Because when push comes to shove, when the going gets tough, God wants you to know where to flee. God wants to be your refuge place. God wants the best for you in those dark times. But unless we’re ready, unless we have His Word in our hearts, that simply isn’t going to happen.

When disaster strikes, where do you turn? When people are nasty to you, where do you turn? When you just don’t know which way to turn, where do you turn?

Well, where do you turn? The Bible is full of verses about God being the place where we can and should turn. Psalm 119, verse 114:

You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.

When the chips are down, we can hope in God’s Word. In what God says. We can believe in His Word above the world’s words. We can believe in His faithfulness above the world’s seductive promises.

The problem is that so many of the people who say that they’re Christians, who say that they believe in Jesus, who say that they trust God simply can’t live out what they say, because they don’t have the Word of God in them. Psalm 91, verses 1 and 2:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Great, but let me tell you, you simply can’t cry out to God, “God you are my refuge and my fortress, in you I trust”, with any real conviction from the middle of your storm unless first, the Holy Spirit has written that Word on your heart. And He won’t have written it on your heart, unless you were in God’s Word beforehand.

Hey, we all have storms. We all go through dark times. I do and you do. But the man who is a man of God’s Word, and the woman who is a woman of God’s Word, they sail through those storms in victory. Even though their emotions are all over the place, even though they’re struggling and in pain, they know in their heart of hearts that their King reigns. That’s the confidence that you get from being in God’s Word every day.

I have a friend who calls himself a Christian and I know him well enough to know that he is. He believes in Jesus with all his heart. But he refuses to get into God’s Word. He doesn’t like to read, so hey, the Bible is just an optional extra.

No thank you sir. That’s just not true, because when the storms of life hit, I want to be grounded in the Word of God. I want the confidence of God alive and well in my heart.

I have a Word for you today from the Lord. Listen carefully to what He says, and my prayer is that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will receive it into your heart. John chapter 8, verse 31:

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, then you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”