Till the Soil of Your Heart…

People say God is silent. People say God doesn’t speak to us anymore. People say, “I don’t hear God”. What’s really going on when you hear these things being said? Maybe it’s because these people are not in tune with God. Maybe they are pretending to be faithful followers. God speaks to us in many different ways. He primarily uses His Word to communicate with us (the Bible). And His Word is alive and active. He also speaks to us through creation (the natural world). He speaks to us through dreams and conscious thoughts. And He speaks to us in everyday interactions with other people. The problem is, unless you are pursuing Him daily; making a conscious effort to truly know Him, you’ll probably hear silence. You’re not cultivating the soil of your heart, what’s necessary for the seeds of God’s word to be planted and grow. It’s only when He grants us the development of our spiritual senses that we start to see His invisible hand moving and working in all things. Here’s an example of this. Jeremiah is told to go see the local potter. As he watches this craftsman mold and shape this piece of clay, he realizes it’s the same way God deals with us. Just imagine all the opportunities God has given us to hear Him speak to us, that we have missed due to our lack of pursuit? All the direct messages we failed to grasp due to our inward directed focus (selfishness)? Our lack of spiritual insight, due to our lack of desire to know Him? His word is alive and active. It sometimes takes reading His Word in the morning, storing it into our hearts, for it later to be revealed being played out in life. It’s alive, and it grows in you through life’s experiences. It’s all out there waiting to be revealed. Do you believe this? Or are you satisfied with the current state of your existence? Till the soil of your heart, make it crop ready. Then when God sees fit to plant His Word in your heart, you will begin to grow your faith and witness these “God Speaks” moments. They happen all the time. Be prepared to listen.

1 The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” 3 So I did as He told me and found the potter working at his wheel. 4 But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.5 Then the Lord gave me this message: 6 “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand. 7 If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, 8 but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. 9 And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, 10 but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey Me, I will not bless it as I said I would.11 “Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’ ”12 But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.”13 So this is what the Lord says: “Has anyone ever heard of such a thing,even among the pagan nations?My virgin daughter Israel has done something terrible! 14 Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon? Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry? 15 But My people are not so reliable, for they have deserted Me; they burn incense to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths.16 Therefore, their land will become desolate, a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will shake their heads in amazement.17 I will scatter My people before their enemies as the east wind scatters dust. And in all their trouble I will turn My back on them and refuse to notice their distress.” Jeremiah 18:1-17