Watch or Listen?

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (John 10:27)

The context of this message is a quote from a very good Bible study book called Experiencing God.

It says something like this

See what God is doing and join Him.

I am sure these are not the actual words but that is the thrust of the statement.

At face value, it looks like a very healthy quote.

Allow me, however, to look at some of its implications.

The first is the subtle assumption that God does not speak.

That is why we must wait to first see His wind moving to know what and where He is at.

That single error has the capacity of leading us to places God never intended for us to get to.

Before I get to Biblical examples, allow me to remind us of things that are happening all around us.

Doomsday cults operate on that principle.

The people who were recently starved to death, hundreds of them, were following God’s move.

Even cults thrive on that principle.

That is why they manufacture miracles and prophecies to prove that they have or are in the move of God.

Most televangelists and prophets thrive on that.

Though I do not follow them, I am also certain that most social media ministers operate on the same principle.

In the Bible, we see many incidences of the same.

The mixed multitude that was a thorn in Moses’ flesh simply followed that move.

Lot followed Abraham because it was evident that God was with him.

Michal loved David on the same terms.

And I am sure Gehazi served Elisha for the same reason.

On the home front, I am sure many Christian marriages fail because they were built on that dynamic.

You see, joining someone who is working does not automatically unite you with them.

You are an admirer of what you have seen. You are simply like a social media follower.

Compare that with Jonathan.

He saw David and the spirit he operated under and sought partnership, even surrendering his position to the anointing he had seen, unlike his sister.

Also, unlike Gehazi, we see Elisha surrendering everything to simply pour water on Elijah’s hands, eventually requesting to inherit him and succeeding.

Seeing God at work is therefore not enough to get us into a relationship with Him.

Because God does speak. In fact, He has already spoken.

But beyond that, He seeks to speak to anyone willing to hear.

And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Mark 4:9)

Looking for the evidence of His working is an inferior method of partnering with God because He is already looking for partners who will receive His orders.

The second problem with the statement is that we must become observers before joining God.

This means that we are reactors, followers instead of workers, partners. And that is a big difference.

This is because someone else must first hear from God and start moving before I even consider moving. Someone must first initiate obedience before I can join the move of God.

Imagine if all of us did that!

What would have happened had Samuel followed that advice? What about David when Goliath was harassing the Israeli army? Incidentally that is what the army was waiting for the forty days Goliath was harassing them.

And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. (1Samuel 17:25)

The reason they couldn’t fight or surrender was because they were waiting for a man to initiate the move of God that they could then join him.

We can’t hide under waiting to see the move of God to respond because God seeks people to initiate those moves. Incidentally that starts with you.

For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:10)

Someone MUST start. And that person is someone who has received the order

Waiting for him to move before joining means that you are an outsider to the things of God.

It is the non-believers who are drawn to the faith by those moves; simply because they do not know God and so need some demo of sorts to believe.

Remember that Jesus, though He performed miracles at will, refused to give a sign to the Jews.

And why?

Because they knew God beyond signs since they had His word.

By waiting to see the move of God, we are simply repeating the same error.

Believers do not chase signs and wonders. Believers do not chase prophets and prophecies. Believers do not chase miracles or glitter of any kind and type.

That is the preserve of the cynics.

We have God’s word that we should hide in our hearts and minds. We have His Spirit to guide us to His will. We have His power resident in us.

In fact, those miracles are resident in us by virtue of the Holy Spirit being released to us.

Seeking drama of any sort is therefore an indictment on our rebellion.

Pretending to use it to guide our obedience is akin to worshiping another god, the god of displays.

The third reason that statement could mislead is because waiting to see God and joining that move will make me a secondary recipient of His guidance.

As is commonly said, God does not have any grandchildren.

Why then should He use a proxy to get me into His work? By proxy I mean somebody else who is working causing me to work.

God is interested with a relationship with His people. And that relationship is a very personal one.

This means that He seeks to speak to us as personally as possible so that we are very clear with what He wants with us.

He is not interested in our guess work. He is not interested in our interpretations of what He wants us to be and do.

What some of us are doing is akin to a son asking his father, who is at home with him, to send him a letter through the post office (or email) so that he can understand what he wants.

We are the move of God if we are obedient to His revelation.

And that is the move He will use to draw the world to Himself.

Let us immerse ourselves in His word to know Him.

Let us obey everything He commands to align ourselves with His will.

That is what will create the momentum for the move the world will see to come to Him.