Why in the world would anyone ever ignore what God has to say?
If God speaks and you hear but do not respond, a time could come when you will not hear His voice. Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God
Reflection
When I read this in the book on Experiencing God, it was bone-chilling. Imagine not having a relationship with God. Imagine He has figured out that you aren't to be trusted.
If you have ever walked away, you can find yourself in a very lonely place. I know I have. Not once, but twice. I refer to them as two tours of duty in hell.
When you follow your sinful nature and distance yourself from God, you are not in a good relationship with him. He is offering you advice and suggestions. They are good ones. After a while, it gets tiring to toss this out for someone. You shut down because you know the person isn't going to listen. It's hopeless. So you stop offering your advice. Perhaps you stop spending time with that person. Or you are there, but you aren't invested in them. That is a terrible place.
If you have dealt with a teenager or a victim mentality person, you know exactly what I am referring to. It doesn't matter what you say the teen is going to do what they are going to do. But, of course, you might add some consequences to what you say, and still, they go off and do that thing, and the consequences ensue.
This is the way God works when we choose ourselves instead of Him. Now, God isn't the kind of parent who is always up in your face. There are no doubt times when He sees you getting it right. No need to speak up. Even when you don't get it exactly the way He would want for you, He is still okay with it.
But to be in a place where you keep ignoring Him, and He walks out on you! Holy Crap! That would be terrible. So why, then, do we ignore Him?
Let's first remember God's voice is love. It comes through the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit speaks in love. It is not condemning you. It isn't beating you up. On the contrary, it truly is kind and compassionate—firm but kind and understanding.
The devil is the one that sends the snarky comment. The self-doubt. Those words make you believe you are a loser and can't do anything right. Therefore, you are to blame, or if it weren't for that circumstance, you would be better.
The beauty of God is He accepts you exactly where you are, when you are, and how you are. He is unconditional. Even when He goes quiet on you, He isn't ever leaving. I can testify to that in more ways than one, for sure. I know exactly when I walked far away; God had enough as I was going so far away! He stepped in. Grabbed me up. Carried me. Held me. Hugged me. He cried with me. Hurt with me. Saved me and then healed me.
The devil gives you moments of pleasure and then right after guilt. He is the perfect opposite of God, perhaps the most significant difference.
Think about it. God gives you joy. Not pleasure. It is very different. Joy is lasting. Pleasure is momentary. Pleasure is almost a release, and by definition, it goes away. Joy is encompassing and embraces your life.
As I wrote, my thoughts and my experience of joy are a baby just laughing. Their face is illuminated, and their laughter is so sincere and genuine. While that laughter might go away after a few minutes, that face still radiates. That experience was not pleasure. It was joy.
We ignore God because we get caught up in life. We get tactical. We get weak. We lose our discipline. We lose our souls in some way. I guess it might simply work this way. You need to know what dark looks like to appreciate the light. You have to understand loneliness to enjoy being with other and perhaps the importance of reaching out to others. I honestly don't know why we ignore God, but I will do my best not to let that happen again. I've been there and done that. In all cases, I was wrong, and God was right. So for heaven's sake and my own ... let's go with God.
So there it is. If you don't listen and do what God says, there is a good chance He will go quiet on you. Perhaps right until you hit the very bottom of your pit when He has no choice but to rescue you. Let me tell you, having experienced both the level of despair and complete loneliness of having to be saved versus the comfort and security of being in a love relationship with God ... you have to take the love relationship. Trust me. Even though it is comforting to know God has your back ... it's not worth what it does to your soul. No need to test Him just let Him guide you.
Unfortunately, some of us can't figure it out; that is why God is so incredible and is the voice of love. Because no matter what, He is there for you. The devil is never there for you. He is there for himself. He will use you to pull more of God's children away. He is there to screw up that excellent plan and purpose God has for you. Fortunately, God will always try to get you back. When he does, he will fix you up as well as can be and then lead you in a way that will help you on the rest of the journey.
The moral of this story is do not ignore God. Instead, listen, learn, love, and be led by the Holy Spirit. Living your life to its fullest depends on it.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you are so awesome to my family and me. You have shown in so many ways that you love us. We are not singled out. We are not unique. We are your children who you love like you love others. We are fortunate enough to know it's you and not us that provide. We play our part but ultimately, you allow it to happen. Thank you so much for all that you have done for us. For saving us when we needed it. For showing us just how awesome you are. For allowing us to hear your voice and having the courage to respond to it. Thank you for keeping us together and allowing us to show our love for one another. You are the center of my life, and I pray I never leave your light again. I soak it in, and I become one who radiates your Spirit proudly and strongly to all who need to experience it. Please protect my family from this virus, Lord, and if we are to get it, please let us heal from it. Please help us become healthier, and let us show our love for you by loving one another. I ask everything through Jesus, my Lord, and Savior. Amen.
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