Sit...stay

I've been staying in Flint this week and spending a lot of time with my Dalmatian, Baby. She's big, fat and terribly disobedient but I love her, - she's my Baby. While she jumps and barks there is one thing she does well, and that is sit on command. Well, at least when she feels like doing it. I think she does so well because when we trained her to sit, we reinforced her positive behavior with doggie treats (hence her big, fat, butt.)

Stick with me now as I change thoughts; - trust me it'll all fit together in the end. A few months ago I went through a terribly silent spiritual spell (say that 10 times fast). I prayed for direction, and confirmation in several areas, but basically heard nothing from God.

Am I going in the right direction while I apply for mission opportunities in Swaziland? Silent.
Did I hear you correctly, Lord? Am I supposed to say ________ to Mrs. X? Silent.
I stepped out in faith and attempted this in you name. Did I do it right, Lord? Silent.

At times, silence is golden…these were not the times. I simply wanted confirmation to know that I was on the right track. I was trying new things and I guess I just wanted to know that I wasn't messing things up too bad. I mean, in the early days, when I was a baby Christian, I'd step out in faith and God would immediately show me if I was on the right track (like praying to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit) or on the wrong track (attempting to lead a college ministry. Not a good fit for me.) But now my faith had grown and I had come into a period where immediate confirmation was non-existent, and delayed confirmation seemed scarce.

But I heard a wonderful sermon at the River of Life church in Raleigh, NC. In a nutshell it went like this: As mature believers, we've learned to hear God's voice through His Word, prayer, and his people. And so sometimes we are expected to walk in faith alone. When we can't see immediate results we depend on faith. We have to act on what we know is true, even when we don't see the evidence. We lean heavily on what we believe instead of what we feel.

Therefore, if I feel that God isn't present, I rest in the fact that the Bible says He, "will never leave [me] nor forsake [me]". If I think that God doesn't love me, I speak aloud the scripture, "God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son…" If I think I feel God's prompting to act, I do it, even when I risk making a fool of myself.

The late Kathryn Kulhman told of a dream that illustrates this perfectly:

"I dreamed once," Kathryn had said, "of three kneeling figure. All were waiting for Jesus to pass by. As the Lord came down the path, He stopped and embraced the first figure. When He came to the second figure, He gently laid His hand on her shoulder. But when He passed the third kneeling figure, He only smiled and kept on walking.
"Someone said to the Master, 'You must love the woman you embraced more that the others.'

"'No, you don't understand,' He said gently. 'The one I embraced needs my encouragement. She is weak in the faith. The one I tapped lightly on the shoulder is stronger. But the third one, the one I merely smiled at, is strong. I never need to worry about her, for she is with me constantly.'"

This sermon and illustrations were a wonderful encouragement to me, to know that everyone goes through silent phases. I've seen that the immediate confirmation I use to experience was to "train" me and put me on the right path. Just as Baby now responds to the command she hears without the treat, I am to respond to the promptings I hear from the Holy Spirit without any further rewards. (See I told you the Dalmatian story would fit in.)


"In His silence, He speaks volumes to us. He is commanding us to wait on Him and focus our attention on His holiness. Is He only God to us when He speaks or is He still our praised Father when we see nothinghappening and we hear no voice from the heavens? We must believe that in the midst of the silence He isindeed still in control?....

Are you waiting for Him to respond yet hearing nothing and becoming frustrated because He is not answering you in the clear, loud way that you had hoped?  Maybe He is speaking to you.  He is asking you to pursue Him.  Don't pursue the solution. . .pursue the Savior! " -Priscilla Shirer