The ability to communicate with words is a precious gift from God that we often take for granted and quite frankly, rarely use successfully. Words, both verbal and written, allow us to give a part of ourselves to someone else. With words, we not only share what we think, we share who we are and Whose we are. Every time we speak or write, say a letter, we are giving away a piece of ourselves. Yes, non-verbal communication does have influence, and grunts and growls have their place in the animal world, but words define nuances, shape minds, and even alter history.
Contrary to Darwin elitists, God gave the gift of words only to humans from the beginning. We know this because Adam was told to name the animals. Names require the use of words. Plus, we know Adam and Eve understood God’s instructions given to them immediately after they were created. Add to that the very first words recorded of man are Adam’s words upon being introduced to Eve.
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Genesis 2:23
A tad bit more meaningful than the grovels, grunts, and howls the evolutionists ask us to believe were the first communications of man. And it didn’t take long before a conversation of words changed human history for all time (Genesis 3). Yes, words are a gift. The written word is timeless. And God’s Words are eternal!
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
Matthew 24:35
If our meager written words were a crucial lifeline to my son, shouldn’t the everlasting Words of God be treated as Life itself communicating with us? Shouldn’t we be excited that we are getting eternal mail when we read our Bibles? Shouldn’t we open that mail every day? And shouldn’t we read and re-read these amazing letters relentlessly for our own good and for the benefit of those around us?
The obvious answer to all these questions is a resounding, “Yes!” and we are not alone in our desire to hear, know, and understand the Words of God. The Bible is full of examples of people who longed to hear God. One of my favorites is Elijah!
In the Old Testament, we read about a remarkable prophet whose name was Elijah. He was quite the man of God and served Him faithfully during a very dark time in Israel’s history. In fact, he was so connected with God that he experienced some pretty amazing God-sized moments:
- Elijah was given the ability to stop the rain (I Kings 17:1).
- Elijah, a widow and her son ate unlimited bread while he lodged with them during the time of draught
(I Kings 17:9-16).
- Elijah was given power to raise the widow’s son from the dead (I Kings 17:17-24).
- Elijah was given power to defeat 450 prophets of Baal in a god-test (I Kings 18).
- Elijah was given the ability to make it rain again
(I Kings 18:45).
- Elijah was given the speed and endurance to outpace Ahab’s chariot and beat him to Jezreel (I Kings 18:46).
- Elijah was fed miraculously by God and the angel of the Lord ministered personally to him (I Kings 19:6-7).
- Elijah traveled for forty days to a mountain on those one day provisions (I Kings 19:8).
- Elijah spoke directly to God on Mount Horeb, The Mountain of God (I Kings 19:9-15).
- Elijah was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire
(II Kings 2:11).
- Elisha smote the waters of Jordan with Elijah’s mantel which fell off when he was taken away to heaven in the chariot of fire. The waters were separated and Elisha crossed over on dry ground (II Kings 11-14).
Like many of our heroes in the Bible, Elijah struggled with keeping a balanced perspective in between these Wow! moments. Queen Jezebel had a particularly adverse effect on him and he allowed one threat made by this malicious woman to knock him off his feet.
Discussion
Discuss living from “Wow!” spiritual experience to “Wow!” spiritual experience? How do you feel in between these times? Ask God to show you how to thrive in the ordinary every day routines that make up the majority of our time and space while we are living on Earth.
One Another Living 