Psalm 139
H,
Of course, as you say, there is more to
intimacy than being known. There is no such thing as a fulfilled but one-sided
love. If we are talking to someone we intend that they talk back to us at some
point or we have not yet begun to communicate. We have to deal with the problem
of hearing from God once we decide that He knows us and He can hear us.
There are many arguments against hoping that
the voices in our head and heart are of a benevolent sort. Voices in the head
are a sign of schizophrenia. Sometimes they are not clear. Sometimes they say
opposite things. Sometimes it all feels dark. The real problem here I think is
that we assume that the voice will always be ghostly and not spiritual. I mean
that we are looking for a voice that raises the bar of what is physical and
what is metaphysical. It cannot be natural so it must be supernatural. It is
but not in the way we want it to be. We are still looking for the thunderclap and
older voice when it is the tiniest turns to the left and to the right that show
us where the voice of God is.
There are many ways not closed to hearing this
voice but the clearest sense I always get is from the bible. When I sit and
suffer over a direction I always find a way into it through some scripture that
takes on personal application to my own situation. It shows up unexpectedly and
mostly when I have let it all be shown to God in prayer and then sat down to
listen to what He will say. I do not know the dynamics of how this always
works. A lot of bible study, I presume. It is a perfect book in that vital
sense that it tells a perfect story and all of truth runs through it like
thread. It all connects. It all makes sense. It has for me and I think it does
for everyone who looks.
So, we have to be willing to hear and our
great resource is the bible and all it has to say about man reaching God. It is
a discipline and we are disciples. Our calling is to be made into the character
of Christ. He could speak with authority and He would often speak from the
ancient texts. There is no other foundation that can be laid but this. There is
no way to make it current or modern. This is an eternal thing. It will be true
one thousand years from now. We study it not only because it is the history of
man in all his imperfection seeking to reach God but it is also, so much more
of value to us, the evidence of a perfect God reaching out to speak to man in
every way possible.