Most people would think the words they whisper in their bedroom would be private and secure. But don’t be so sure!
I’m not about to go off on some government-conspiracy tangent, neither am I headed down the “your phone’s microphone is always on even when your phone is off” path. As scary as either of those scenarios may be. there’s a lot more fluff than stuff there. No, most of you are probably not at too much risk from the listening ears of your government or your mobile phone. But there IS a risk you’ve probably never considered.
Before we go on, thanks for joining me today on “Mornings with Bishop Robert.” I appreciate the opportunity to spend a few minutes together. My goal is to introduce people to the Jesus they never knew, and help them get to know Him and His word personally. If our time together today speaks to your heart, I’d be grateful if you’d share it with a friend !
In today’s verse, God tells Jeremiah His prophet CALL TO ME AND I WILL ANSWER YOU, AND WILL TELL YOU GREAT AND HIDDEN THINGS THAT YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN.
Well, God DOES speak; and not only to His prophets, thankfully. He speaks regularly to those who come into His presence and listen. And He does teach us things, both from His word and by speaking to us through His Spirit. There are times God has given me specific insights about people I am praying with. This is the gift of the Spirit the bible calls a “word of knowledge,” being told something we previously had no knowledge about and could not possibly have known on our own; and the Spirit gives these words to whomever He wills. It is often accompanied by another gift the bible calls a “word of wisdom” which enables you to know what God wants you to do with the knowledge He has revealed to you. Yes, even words from your bedroom.
You see, God reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, because He is the light and nothing is hidden from Him. Light dwells with him. He revealed mysteries to Daniel that saved the lives of him and his colleagues by telling him what the king had dreamed. Talk about secrets from your bedroom! But God demonstrating His power through Daniel impacted the actions of the king, and therefore the nation.
When you’re going through a difficult time in your life and you’re searching for answers that are beyond your knowledge or understanding, maybe you should ask God to be your strategic partner. His strategy will work, and it will work every time! But you’d better be prepared to operate in faith!
When Gideon was surrounded by a massive army that had been trouncing the nation of Israel year after year, God gave him a winning strategy. He told Gideon that he had far too many soldiers on his side!! He had to face a well-armed and highly-skilled army of over 150,000 men, and God told Gideon to keep reducing the number of soldiers on his side until only 300 remained. Gideon was hopelessly outnumbered, ridiculously under-resourced and utterly unprepared. God was sending 300 men to war, and the only “weapons” He allowed them to take were pots, pans and flashlights. (I told you you’d better be prepared to operate in faith!) But God gave Gideon SPECIFIC instructions, and they led to a massive victory for Israel.
Gideon had a strategic partner, and His strategy could not fail.
God’s speaking to YOU as well, my friend. He is saying CALL TO ME AND I WILL ANSWER YOU, AND WILL TELL YOU GREAT AND HIDDEN THINGS THAT YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN. If you’re facing a situation where everything you’ve tried has failed and you have no idea what to do next, that’s a situation where God can step in.
Gideon and Daniel knew that truth. So did Elisha.
At one point the king of Aram decided to go to war against Israel. He’d devise a strategy or determine a place where he could set an ambush. God would tell Elisha, and Elisha would tell the king of Israel. He’d send a message to the king of Israel: “Your Majesty, be careful passing by such-and-such a place, for the Arameans are going down there.” It happened time after time after time. So much so that the king of Aram called together his most trusted advisors and demanded, “Tell me, which one of you is on the side of the king of Israel?” He got his answer, but it wasn’t it wasn’t even close to the one he expected.
One of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha the prophet tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” The solution seemed a simple one for the king of Aram – kill Elisha, problem solved. So he found out that Elisha was staying in a town called Dothan, and sent his army there to eliminate his problem. The king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a massive army. They went to Dothan by night and surrounded the city. The king had sent a huge force of soldiers to capture an unarmed prophet. What could possibly go wrong, right?
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, went out that morning to get Elisha’s copy of the Dothan Times only to discover Dothan had been surrounded by an army of men sent to capture his master. His problem was big. his problem was real. His problem was armed to the teeth and he and Elisha were completely surrounded.
Gehazi panicked, ran inside and said to Elisha, ““Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” Gehazi had an overwhelming problem and no strategy to solve it. Elisha knew they didn’t really have a problem at all, because he knew who to ask for a strategy. He served a God who tells us GREAT AND HIDDEN THINGS THAT WE HAVE NOT KNOWN. And God showed Elisha that the solution to his problem was already in place.
Elisha prayed, “Open Gehazi’s eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” I’m pretty confident that while Elisha was praying that prayer, Gehazi was thinking, “I CAN SEE!!! I can see an army all around us and a really big problem. We have to DO something, not just sit and pray!” But the God who provided the strategy and the answer also opened Gehazi’s eyes to see the solution, and when God did that he could see the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Elisha and Gehazi were not the ones who were surrounded – THE ONES WHO WERE REALLY SURROUNDED WERE THE ARAMIAN ARMY. In fact, the Aramians were not only completely surrounded but massively outnumbered.
Here’s my prayer for you today. When you face massive problems – and sooner or later you will – I pray that you’ll have the faith to STOP and ask God for His strategy. When you do, you’ll find that which appears too large and overwhelming comes into a very different perspective when the Lord opens your eyes, too. The problem may still be there. (The Aramian army was still there.) But once you see the SOLUTION, the problem becomes all but irrelevant.
Oh, by the way, those who look with BOTH EARTHLY AND SPIRITUAL EYES and rejoice are usually thought to be crazy by those who cannot see what God is doing. Until He does it, that is.
God solved Daniel’s impossible problem. He solved Gideon’s impossible problem. He solved the impossible problem of Elisha and Gehazi. Trust me, God’s not pacing back and forth in the throne room of heaven hoping the YOU don’t ask for His help and wondering what on earth he will do if you call upon Him. God is not impressed by the size of your problem. The question is this — Are YOU impressed by the size of your God?
Since God will hear every word you speak — even the one’s you whisper in your bedroom — why not let Him hear you asking for His help with the biggest problems you face?
Then LISTEN !! He will answer. He will act. He will show Himself faithful.
CALL TO ME AND I WILL ANSWER YOU, AND WILL TELL YOU GREAT AND HIDDEN THINGS THAT YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN
