God's Convicting Call

 

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 

The man knew the voice of God. He had heard Him speak before.  But he also had heard Him walking before He spoke. Man hid. He really did not want to hear what God had to say, but when man heard Him speak, he knew there was nowhere to escape.  God cuts to the chase with a very pointed question: "Did you disobey?" God came wanting to walk and talk with the man, but first He had to give this convicting call.  It was not to be a big bully, but to address the elephant in the room: "man has sinned and something needs to be done. God still lovingly speaks the same way today. How will respond to His call?

God Talks Out Loud

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

When we look at verse 18, we really need to stop and ask: "Who was God talking to?" Was He talking to all the planets, plants, and animals He had made? He was talking to Himself - in other words the Three Persons of the Trinity were talking to one another.  We see the same thing in 1:26, when He said: Let Us make man in our image, after our likeness. God "talks out loud" for our benefit, to let us know how He is thinking, why He is acting, and what He is like. He reveals to us what His character is, what His plan is, and what part we have with Him in doing it. He talks out loud to include us.

God's Owner's Manual

 

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 

We have begun looking at what happens when God said: He made His creation and put things into motion. When it came to mankind, God was more meticulous and deliberate in His assembly and directions as to how man is to operate.  The instructions are not only for man, but how he is to interact with the rest of creation.  God speaks and He writes things down. He knows how forgetful we can be. 

God Said and It Moved

 Genesis 1:9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together 

                    into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 

                11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, 

                    and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to 

                    its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 
                20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, 

                    and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.”
                24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according 

                    to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth 

                    according to their kinds.” And it was so.

In between God creating the different parts of our physical world, He also moved things around and made growing vegetation, moving waters, and all the creatures on the land, above it, and in the waters. God is not a two-dimensional artist; He designs and creates movement which begins with His voice.  In the same way, God sees what needs to be done, hears the call of our voice, speaks to us in many ways, including His creation, and expects movement. Is there any way He is speaking to you, and you are refusing to budge?

God Said and It Existed

Genesis 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
                6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of 
                the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
               14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the 
                heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be 
                for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 

We have been looking at God as the One Who Sees and Hears, watching over us and listening to us. Perhaps more profound (and prolific in scripture) is that God speaks, revealing to us something about Himself, this world He has made, and the life He offers to us as His creation. The words above are very familiar to many, but no less significant, as they show us that The God Who Speaks had a plan before He spoke. He is purposeful and so is this planet and our very lives. As we work our way through the Bible once again, let us listen as He speaks and learn what we may have missed.

When God Listens...

II Corinthians 6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
    and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 

3 We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 

This passage follows immediately after Paul's challenge in which he says twice: "We do not lose heart." He is quoting from Isaiah.  Paul is talking about the Holy Spirit being the driving force in his ministry and his life.  He in no way sought to take the place of the Holy Spirit, but to work with Him when He was moving, listening, working. In our own lives, and as we seek to help others in their spiritual journey, we need to make sure we put not obstacle in the way of people hearing God's voice and realizing He has heard theirs. Our goal is to keep the channel of communication open and see God at work changing our lives and others as well.

Not Rejected!

Psalm 66:16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
    and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
    and high praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
    the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly God has listened;
    he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

This psalm begins with a call to all the world, especially His people, to come and see what God has done. It includes not only His great acts of delivering His people from bondage and oppression; it also contains the personal things He has done for the psalmist, for his soul.  Notice that what is called for is for us to call out to God in praise no matter what is going on.  Then, when we do call out to Him in time of distress, He is used to hearing our voice call out to Him. He is already listening. We just need to call. Can you personally conclude as the psalmist:

20 Blessed be God,
    because he has not rejected my prayer
    or removed his steadfast love from me!