I Hear You

All in a day

Wednesday, January 18

7:30am - Read Psalms for the day starting with Ps.18

It was only the first line of the Psalm, “I love you, O LORD, my strength,” and I was instantaneously engaged with God. I read it again and agreed out loud that Yahweh was my only strength. Continuing, my heart and mind gained assurance as I read that He is my rock, refuge, stronghold, shield. My mouth blurted out praise because He - Is - Worthy and I - Am - Saved!

Like a lasso the next verses pulled me in a little closer as they described death surrounding, entangling and terrifying the servant of the LORD. And then, as If I were face to face with Abba, his breath changed my fears from rocks to dust. “I hear you,” he said as I read David’s revelation, “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he head my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” (vs.6) “I hear you!” He said, and I replied, “I hear You, Father.”

As if those few minutes weren’t enough oil to anticipate the Bridegroom for the duration of the day, I kept reading. The rest of Psalm 18 is a description of how God responds when the enemy is surrounding His children. He uses the earth as his weapon to scatter the assault. He sends out from on high to draw us away from what is too mighty for us. The Psalm keeps going further into the riches of God, and how He deals with us according to our righteousness. We can run against a troop, leap over a wall, He gives us His shield of salvation ... all because He hears.

8:00am - Read Romans chapter 3

Hmmm, I’m still reading and meditating on Psalm 18. Fighting my task oriented DNA that is yelling at me to move on and finish my list. My rebellious side has never come more in handy as I stubbornly tell my list to shove it, I’ll do whatever I want to. Ahhhh, a few more minutes with this heavenly moment that is changing something deep inside of me.

8:15am - Interruption

The few extra minutes with the Father and Ps.18 were totally worth it as the opportunity to be a Proverbs 31 women rings loud.

(The details of the next few hours are a total blur.)

3:00pm - Start Beef Stew and watch a movie with hubs

The movie Amelia, about Amelia Earhart life and final flight, has the most terrifying scene I have ever witnessed. Freddy Krueger, Alfred’s Hitchcock’s The Birds, Blair Witch Project, Chris Angel ... candy compared to what I felt during the last ten minutes of Amelia.

Her flight around the world was coming to end. Only two more stops to go, Hawaii and Ohio. She had accomplished so much as pilot and as a woman. As she approached the Howland Island there were complications with communication between her and the Coast Guard station there. The movie depicted that the radar’s battery was dead that could have determined her location and the Morris Code transmitter was left behind with other things to make the plane lighter. All they had was a radio transmitter. The ever-long scene told the story that the Coast Guard could hear her vocal transmissions, but that Amelia could not hear the Coast Guard. The scene went back and forth between the plane and the Coast Guard. It was frustrating to watch ... it was ever - long! There was one brief second when she was able to hear the signal, but it was gone as fast it came. The realization began to settle in with both parties that Amelia and her flying companion were going to be lost and die if the radio signals continued to be incomplete, she was low on fuel. As we know, she never landed. Her plane was lost and never found.

At some point during the intense scene I heard the Father say again, “I hear you!” And I remembered that earlier that morning I replied, “I hear You, Father.”

It is not enough for us to only rely on the unchangeable, constant truth that our cries to Him reach Him (Ps.18:6). We have to position ourselves in a manner to hear the Lord speaking to us. We will not survive with a one way conversation. We will be lost with no hope.

(I was haunted for the rest of the day, still am with this realization ... details also blurry.)

6:30pm - Go to church

Fighting the urge just to sit in my car while my son is in youth. This time I told my rebellious to can it and joined my brothers and sisters inside the warm building. As a church right now we are studying the Holy Spirit. The teaching that night was on the Old Testament Prophecy.

There was a lot said, but what I remember the most was this question and answer: How did the OT prophets receive messages from God? Sometimes and dreams and visions, sometimes angelic visitation, but the majority of the time the heard the word of the Lord.

Why is there prophecy? So God’s children would know what to do, know His heart, know His plans, keep covenant.

LORD, help us rest and gain strength from the promise that You hear us, and help us walk in the truth that we have to hear You to live!