God is SO quiet…

  Hey friends… 
...But He is speaking. Jesus said that “my sheep know my voice” (John 10:4, 14-26). If we are “in Christ,” the inner places of our spirit are indeed subtly tuned to know and hear the impulses of the Holy Spirit as His Spirit interfaces and witnesses to our spirit (see Romans 8:16). But for most of us, this voice is foreign. We may not think we have ever experienced it. And if we have, we may not recognize that we have heard Him… partly because He is SO quiet. More on this in Deeper Thoughts below… 
 
 BUT first… A call to prayer and decision… 
 

• THIS Sunday we will kick off a week-long prayer focus to seek the Lord for our next decision about our potential facility expansion--whether or not to proceed into the costly technical design and construction permitting phase of the project. We do not want to make this decision without the Holy Spirit’s wisdom. We will send you home with daily prayer points and guidance to ask the Lord for His wisdom. 

 

• THIS coming Thursday night, February 26, we invite everyone to join us for our regular Elders Meeting starting at 6:30 p.m. (*Come and go as you like); we will devote the entire evening to seeking God in the sanctuary for His provision, wisdom, and empowerment. 

 

• NEXT Sunday morning, March 1, we are calling everyone to join us early for church--9:15 a.m. for a 25-minute prayer meeting to call upon the Lord. 

 

• Then, Sunday, March 1, right after church, we will gather once again for final discussions, Q&A, and then a vote of our Covenant Partners on whether or not to proceed and commit funds to the next phase of the project. 

 

• Important reminder for our Covenant Partners—new this year, all Covenant Partners must renew their partnership at our Annual Celebration or shortly thereafter. If you were not in attendance for that meeting two weeks ago, we simply ask you review the livestream from the meeting, and then click here to download the Covenant Partnership form and bring it to us on Sunday. 

 
Other important stuff to know: 
 

• NEW Daily Six content THIS WEEK!! Yes… we are back with brand new recorded content to walk with you hand-in-hand to study God’s Word for six minutes each day, Monday through Friday. Beginning Monday morning, we will return to our character-by-character study of how to know God from the Old Testament. Please join us… click here for our Daily Six webpage to find the new content on Monday morning, OR… click here to sign up for our daily email reminders (if you’ve not already done so!).  

 

• Also… please note, starting Monday, our Daily Six reminder emails will be coming from a new dedicated Daily Six email address. If you don’t see it in your inbox and you are a subscriber, check your spam folder or let us know! 

 

• Teens: Youth Group this Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Connection, snacks, discussion and prayer… and a guest who will share some of her faith journey! Let Jess know if your student needs a ride home. 

 

• Ladies:  Join us TOMORROW, February 21, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. as we make prayer and gratitude journals to deepen our relationship with God. Click here for more info and to RSVP! 

 

• Men: It’s not too late to join with us for an all-day men’s conference at Christian Fellowship Church TOMORROW, Saturday, February 21, from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The focus is “Guys Growing Godlier.” Click here for more info and to RSVP! 

 

• Young Adults: Come hang out with Chris and Sherri (and each other!) at their home, NEXT Friday night, February 27, 6:30 p.m. – whenever. Yummy food and great fellowship included. Text or call Sherri at 571-437-3127 for details and to RSVP! 

 
OK… that’s it for today for you email skimmers and you who don’t want to hear God speak…  
 
BUT…  

Some Deeper Thoughts 
 
There might a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out) when you hear people say “God told me this…” or “God said…” If you’ve never known for certain that you have heard His voice speaking to you, you can easily spin off into “what’s wrong with me? I must not be as spiritual as they are.” OR… “God must not want to talk to me because I am too sinful,” etc… 
 
Some of our problem with hearing the voice of God is that we have misunderstood what this means. We likely have unrealistic impressions of what someone else has experienced when they say God spoke to them.  
 
When God speaks to me, it is not audible. It is not bold. It does not come with ANY emotions. I do not feel more spiritual. I am often not in some uniquely holy space.  
 
When God speaks to me, it is so stinking silent… so quiet… merely a subtle impression deep inside me somewhere. What is different for me is this: I have learned to recognize the voice of God by learning to differentiate between the impulses in my spirit and the normal instincts of my flesh.  
 
This takes a lot of cultivation and even some experimentation. It is a very subtle difference that took me years to distinguish between a silly idea that was emerging from my own desires that I hoped was God’s voice and an actual word from the Lord. Learning to recognize my own selfish motivations and choosing to surrender them to God is an important first step. 
 
But the other problem we have with hearing the voice of God is that He is indeed so stinking quiet.  
 
God could be his own Seinfeld episode about the “quiet talker.”  
 
Have you ever met one of these people? I know a few. They speak so softly that I really cannot hear what they are saying. I often ask them politely if they could speak up. They repeat themselves, but no volume increase has occurred. Do you know who I’m talking about? 
 
God is one of those people. Ugh. 
 
May I introduce you to Elijah? He was one of those really anointed, really powerful men of God who lived a life of extreme devotion. He loved God so much that he was willing to put it all on the line to force his entire society to face the Living God. He staged a contest between the Lord and all the prophets of a wicked false religion that had captivated all of Israel. The event was stunning. God moved in power. Elijah was a spiritual champion. Could you read all about it before Sunday? 1 Kings 18. 
 
But then the discouragement set in. He got seriously depressed. And he struggled to hear from God. THIS we will press into on Sunday. We will discover some really important truths and a practical “pro-tip” about God’s super quiet voice. 
 
I can’t wait to be in God’s Word with you on Sunday as we wrap up our exploration of “Hearing the Voice of God.”  
 
We’ll see you this Sunday, 10:00 a.m. sharp… Don’t be late… bring your Bible and a pen!! 
 
Much love to you all…  

Chris Eads 
Mt. Hope Pastor 
Friend 
[email protected]