Command 24 : Hear God's Voice | Day 163

Bow Down Your Ear!

Her story was familiar. A 17-year-old girl declared that she could not believe in God. I asked her why, and she said that she had too many questions about God that could not be answered. When I asked when she began having these questions she replied, "When I was seven years old!" Her younger sister had died and she could not comprehend why God would let such a terrible thing happen.

Her parents could not explain it. So, at the age of 11, she began looking to the world for the answers to life's questions. Before long she had strayed far from the moral standards that governed her life in younger years. God has answers to her questions, but He only gives them to those who are humble in spirit. Thus, He states:

“... Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes” (Matthew 11:25).

God requires us to have a humble spirit before He will impart spiritual wisdom to us. Jesus came to preach the gospel to the poor [meek] (see Luke 4:18). Therefore, we are told: “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee ...” (Proverbs 22:17-18).

One demonstration of pride is putting our human intellect above God's Word and the Holy Spirit. By doing this we become the judge of God and His Word rather than allowing Scripture to judge us. This 17-year-old girl had obvious reasons to grieve the loss of her sister, but it was her attitude of pride that demanded of God: "Why do You let bad things happen to innocent people?!"

The disciples asked Jesus a similar question when a wall collapsed and killed 18 people in Jerusalem. Jesus explained that they should not be amazed that 18 people died; they should be amazed that the rest of them are still living! (See Luke 13:4-5.) If God gave all of us what we deserved, no one would be alive. (See Romans 3:23, 6:23, and Lamentations 3:22.)

“... Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (I Peter 5:5).

This 17-year-old girl was being defeated by a false presupposition. She assumed that God owes every person a full, happy, healthy life of at least 70 years and if anything cuts it short we have a right to blame Him. When we bow down our ear and listen to the voice of God we will realize that every hour of every day is a gift for which we should be thankful!

Just as we are to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” (Romans 12:1) we must also voluntarily place our minds under the authority of God's Word and the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that we "stop thinking," but rather that we choose by faith to believe God and His Word to be correct even when our minds cannot comprehend His truth.

If we are not able to hear the wisdom of God's Word is it because we have not humbled ourselves before Him? Why don't we sincerely pray right now, "Lord, I place my mind under the authority of Your Word and Your Holy Spirit." With this unconditional surrender we will be ready to hear the wisdom of God!