ear..
'How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Baal is God, follow him.
But the people said nothing.'
1 Kings 18:21
President Obama popularized twittering. The tech-savvy younger generation Iranian protestors twittered their co-ordinated protests right under the bearded nose and nervous twitching eyes of the Ayatollahs. Great Walls are no longer effective and the Chinese had to scale back their plans to build a Red Wall on the internet, purportedly to keep out non-desirable traffic.
Technology has truly empowered the masses. It has already redistributed power. It was reported that a 15 year intern at one of the top American Investments houses wrote an insightful analysis of the telecommunications sector that was much sought after by money managers. Older foggies at the upper echelons of power are at a loss to fully understand the whimsical needs and wants of the internet savvy population.
'….It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.'
1 Kings 19:4
The prophet Elijah was a truly anointed man of God. He took his stand against one of the most evil royal couple in Israel's history, and overcame a multitude of false prophets, and was used by God to show His awesome presence. Yet, just after the height of his glory, or rather, his being used by God to show His power, Elijah was a frightened and almost broken man, who wanted to give up and die.
'…And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.'
1 Kings 19:12-17
The story of Elijah was where the Lord brought me to two weeks back, as I pondered upon the possibility of scaling back from the few varied ministries that He has placed me in these past few years. Consciously tired I was not, but maybe subconsciously, the frays are starting to show. The Lord brought me to 1 Kings 19, which talks about how God will bring us out of our despair. And how it is in the stillness of our hearts, that we will hear the voice of our Lord. In the same chapter, God used Elijah to anoint his helpers as well as Elisha, his replacement.
Clearly, God knows our needs, and He will walk with us, He will provide. But is there anything else for me to reflect upon?
Interestingly, on one of those rare occasions that I attend the Saturday evening service, instead of the Sunday morning service in church, it happened to be Youth week and the sermon shared by the Youth Ministry chairperson, was taken from this same story about Prophet Elijah, difference was that it was one chapter earlier, ie 1 Kings 18, and it was on his moment of glory, rather than the despair as shared above.
The speaker shared 3 key points on Elijah
(note: the regular font sentence following each key point in bold shared by the speaker are my own thoughts)
- He stood his ground in his faith in God, despite the overwhelming odds
Eiijah looked resolutely to God and not upon men or his own understanding
'Then said Elijah unto the people, I ,even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Ba'al's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.'
1 Kings 18:22
- He repaired and built an altar to God
Should we not do the same in terms of correcting what we can control, ie ourselves, rather than despair over the sinfulness of others?
'And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord..'
1 Kings 18:32
- He connected to God
Only time with God, can keep us aligned to His will
'..and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?'
1 Kings 19:12-13
As believers and followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, in our weakness, we often revert back to our own understanding to define our relationship with our Sovereign God. We must learn to stay rooted upon the Lord our God, in the ways Christ has taught us. Which is, in prayers, in His words, in His works till He shows us otherwise.
'Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.'
Ephesians 4:23
But can we stay firm and run forth with our Lord, if our very foundations are structurally flawed? We must be prepared to always respond as the Spirit leads, to allow God to make right our wrongs, to anchor us spiritually upon Him, so that no storms will shake our faith in Him.
But how can we be changed, when we do not even know what needs to be changed? The world today with its new fangled technology gives no one any excuse not to stay connected, but yet, reality is, connection amongst humans is intense at the superficial level, and goes no furthur than skin-deep.
An old world dinosaur like me(at least that what my son thinks) is finally into Twitter. At least if you count signing up as proof of sophistication. Seems like a simple concept with one simple question "What are you doing ?". And in Twitter, you either do the following or be the one leading or both.
'The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.'
Psalm 53:1
We all have "god or gods" in our pysche. Even the professed secular men, for his god is what he see in the mirror everyday!!
It is who you want to follow and respond to? Man will continue to make new discoveries or originate new ideas, for necessity is the mother of invention. But reality is our Sovereign God has already put in place His handiwork, it is just when our eyes are opened to the possibilities, and whether we are willing to step onto the paths He has set before us?
'God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God..'
Psalm 53:2
God looks at our heart, His Spirit resides in the heart of those who believe, but are we willing to heed the Holy Spirit's leading? Is that not twittering?
'Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God Who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.'
Philippians 2:12-13
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(24 July 2009)
And what about dither??
'And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just: to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.'
Luke 1:17
Dither in a negative sense is to imply a state of confusion, an agitated state. If you believe in God, you must be resolute in following His leading and not let your own understanding or Satan's delusions lead you astray and awry.
But dither has a more meaningful and positive usage. Its origin was the incorporation of vibration ("dither") into computers used in aviation to improve their accuracy. Like the Prophet Elijah, being imperfect, we will have spasms of nervousness, where our clinging on to God shakes. But our God given resoluteness, vibrancy and compassion in living our faith is not just what God will look for in us, but He will provide, if we allow Him. And life is indeed heavenly when we allow God to use us to be that dither that brings a sharpened focus in the lives of others He places in our lives, as they twitter as the Lord leads, and follow no others
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