Hearing From God SUDDENLY

Did you ever have a SUDDENLY when in prayer? Suddenly you just knew you were supposed to do something, perhaps outside your comfort zone.

There is no telling what the long term effect of obedience to the voice of God will be.

    

John heard from the Lord that day in Patmos. Part of this “Suddenly” was a direct instruction to:

Rev.1:11  It said, “Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches…

Obviously he did what the Lord instructed, we’re reading and studying it now, 2,000+ years later. John understood that the Lord was the leader of his life and he knew that his leader loved him. I’ve said for many years that it is imperative that we, as disciples of Jesus, learn to hear His voice so we can follow where the Master is leading us.

Rev. 1:10 emphasizes the need for us to live in the spirit. There are countless verses with this same admonition. We need to be in the continual communication with God in whom we have our life, our being. God most often communicates with us at the heart level, in the spiritual realm. We are constantly making decisions and we should want His direction on all matters. Sometimes His leading does not make sense to us because we evaluate carnally or without our Father's infinite wisdom.

If you are a Christian who understands that you must know where your Leader is leading, you must marvel at the means of communication the Lord used in the verse 10. There are many forks in life’s road; we need Father to let us know which side to take. It must also be understood that such spectacular manifestations are the exception, not the standard by which God leads us. If you were to count the frequency of such spectacular events in the lives of the great prophets or the patriarchs, or any Bible character, they are few and far between in proportion to the ages of these people of great faith. I have had a few such experiences, although not as dramatic as John’s, and each has changed the direction of my life. Elijah described the reality of this beautifully,

I King 19:11     Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;

12        and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

13        So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

We see from in the encounters with God that John and Elijah had that the spectrum of God communicating with people is as vast as there are different people. How wonderful it is when suddenly we just know that we know that we know something. We experience that special something from God, that gentle nudge in our Spirit, that gently touch on the heart, that is His leading. The Lord makes ordinary grace for ordinary life stuff, and extraordinary grace for those extraordinary situations available. God communicates with us in just the right way at just the right time.

Can I want to ask some of you do something? Testify of your personal Suddenly. It may have been dramatic, it may have been something seemingly insignificant, but you knew that the Lord gave you specific instructions. Please, share what the Lord did.