February 14, 2023

 

And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3).

 

Do We Hear Every Word?

Earlier this week was talking about how writing things down helps me to remember life's blessings. Then later in the week, I started clearing up storage on my cell phone and came across old sermon notes (Deuteronomy 8). As I was reading the scriptures above, I recalled God's conversation with Satan in the Book of Job. My thoughts went to did God want to know what was in Job's heart? Did God make Job know that "... he lived by every word out of the mouth of the Lord"? Job desired God's presence, his word at the beginning even before his trials. He prayed and offered sacrifices for his family every morning. Throughout the book of Job, his desire grew even more to hear God. Do you think when God responded, Job's desire to hear every word was greater or less? We know that God already knows our hearts and our thoughts. He already knows if we will keep his law. This could then lead us to conclude that God wants us to know we live by every word of God. Sometimes, it may be that when we don't hear answers to our prayers right away, we may be learning to hear every word of God.  Do we see this scripture in our life? Do we live by every word out of the mouth of God?

 

 

Will You Still Praise God?

I remembered back to struggles in my life when my soul hungered for God's answer to my questions. When months went by with no response; when I felt like Job when he had no response. I needed an answer and wasn't getting one. This lead me to study scripture more and listen to hear even when I had no response. As I was going through the worse period of my life, I kept hearing the intent of my heart, when my heart was physically failing, when my heart was physically at its weakest point. I had intended to start giving God praise for the blessings in my life. When God impressed upon my heart Psalm 100:4, to praise him in the trials, and give thanks for the blessings he has given me. As I was going through these struggles, I kept hearing "Will you still praise God?" I heard this several times as the months passed by. My answer was "Yes", but was getting weaker over time. I think God hears us the loudest when we are at our weakest "Yes". I wonder if we hear God's voice when it is as when he spoke to Elijah. It wasn't in the strong wind, the earthquake, or the fire. It was in the "...still small voice" (I Kings 19:12). I am not proud of how weak my "Yes" had become, but I am thankful that God heard my "small voice".

 

 

Will You Still Praise Me?

As I was going through this period in my life, I kept hearing "Will you still praise God now?" Hearing, "If only you hadn't survived that heart attack". Hearing, "Your bad health caused this". I heard and felt "Your life is crumbling, you failed". There were many things I heard, some best left unwritten. It was through these words that I learned a whole new meaning to "... cast thyself down..."(Matthew 4:6). These words were causing doubt. They came at me in many ways. If I had listened to these words, they would have come true. My faith could have been shipwrecked. I didn't discern the author of these words for several months until that moment when I heard the words "Will You Still Praise Me?" I was struck by the difference when I heard "Me". I kept hearing "Me" in those words. Did God call himself "Me" in the Bible? I am so used to formal thee's and thou's in the bible it didn't seem like God would be this informal. So I looked it up in the bible, and God does refer to himself as "Me". Had Satan been whispering the words "Will You Still Praise God" to me? It was when I heard "Me" that I remembered the intent of my heart to praise God months ago. I hadn't lived up to them at first, but here I was now remembering. So I praised God in the way that God had laid before me; the way my heart at its physical weakest point had asked for, and when my spirit at its weakest point had answered "Yes". It is impossible to share all the details of the thoughts, and moments, that came to me when it was all made clear. That "still small voice", when I was fed by that "every word".

 

As I was studying Job months later, I came to really see the words "... Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die."

 

 

What Is In Thine Heart?

As I reflect and see the scripture "... to know what was in thine heart", I see what was in my heart, and I will always remember that weakest "Yes" in my life. I know there will be more struggles in my walk, and I also know that God will be there right beside me. He will pick that moment when I need to hear Him, and will really hear.

As I went back to originally edit this post using my grammar app to correct punctuation and spelling, I notice the date February 14th, then the title of the post, "To Know Thine Heart". What we all should be doing on Valentine's Day is getting to know what is in "...Thine Heart". Probably also be nice if our minds had a grammar app to hear only God's voice.

 

Thank you, God, for all the blessings in my life.