Until we take time to be quiet, we will not hear God. God cannot be heard in noise and restlessness, only in silence. He will speak to us if we give Him a chance, and listen. Psalm 46:10 states, “Be still and know that I am God.”
God speaks to the spiritually thirsty and hungry in Isaiah 55:2-3,
“Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in richness.
“Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you.”
Listen! There is no other way to take Him in. Jeremiah said in 15:16,
“Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, the Lord, God of Hosts.”
The problem with many of us is that even though we read God’s Word, we are not feeding on Him. We are more intent on mastering the text and finding our it precise meaning, gathering theories and theologies, so we can talk more intelligently about God. But the main purpose of reading the Bible, is not to accumulate data about Him, but to come to Him, to encounter Him as our living God.
In John 5:39, Jesus told the best read religious leaders,
“You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me.”
In other words, the religious leaders diligently studied the scriptures, believing they finally eternal life within them, yet they missed the scriptures that they are witness to Him.
The scholars read the Bible, but they didn’t listen to God, they never heard His voice. We should do more than read words, we should seek the Word exposed in the words. We want to move beyond information to seeing God and being informed and shaped by His truth.
There is a passing exhilaration in discovering and acquiring knowledge about the Bible, but there’s no life in it. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a stimulus you are in your action with God.
We read God’s Word, but we’re not feeding on it. The Bible is the mind of the Lord. When we read His Word, we are reading His mind – what He knows, what He feels, what He wants, what He enjoys, what He desires, what He loves, what He hates.
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, that He should instruct Him? But we have Christ’s mind” -Corinthians 2:16
Take the time to reflect in what He is saying. Think about His words. Give yourself time to pray until God’s heart is revealed and your heart is exposed.
Listen carefully to the words that touch your emotions and meditate on God’s goodness.
So much depends on our conscious desire to engage Him in a personal way.
Remember, it’s not how much time we spend at first. The important thing is to make an effort each day. The Holy Spirit lets us know where to go from there.
God has no limits to His love. We can come with all our doubts, disappointments, and mid judgements. God is someone whom we can approach without fear. Someone whom we can submit ourselves to without despair.
From Pity to Praise 