God Speaks

One of the great things about teaching at Grace Baptist Academy is that the faculty meets for devotions twice a week. It's wonderful time to hear what God is doing in the lives of our teammates and to be encouraged in our work together.

This past Friday, one of the elementary teachers talked about her personal struggles with doubting God's leading in her family's life. But, she said, she had been listening to music in her room after school and heard a song that spoke to her and gave her courage to keep trusting. She then sang for us, and it was truly stirring.

It got me thinking. How many times do we hear someone say, "I happened to come across this verse in my reading. . ." or "God spoke to me when I heard my pastor say. . . " or "This song has a message I needed to hear"? The common factor in all of these remarks is that the person put herself in a place to hear the truth. She opened the Bible, went to church, turned on the music. Then God spoke.

Most people have struggles and doubts from time to time, and the world makes it easy to let those doubts grow. But God tells us that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). We are instructed to gather with other believers so we may "provoke" one another  "to love and good works" (Hebrews 10:24-25). Paul told the Colossians they should teach and admonish one another in "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (Colossians 3:16).

We can't make it on our own, and we were never meant to try. I used to hear people say that if you don't want to go to church, it does you no good. Or that reading the Bible out of duty is useless. But being in church and opening the Bible exposes us to truth; it puts us in place to receive the help we need. So come on to church even if you don't feel like it, and read your Bible faithfully. Then wait for God to speak.

--Sherry Poff