Proverbs 29:16–27 ‘Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. Servants cannot be corrected by mere words; though they understand, they will not respond.’ (vv18–19)
Revelation, or encountering God, is to fill our hearts with joy, placing all our struggles in perspective. Difficult to accomplish, revelation alone presents us with the way forward. If only it were delivered in a single package, like a software patch.
Sadly, we’re invited to seek God for ourselves, in conversation with others we trust, and accordingly reset our destination before confidently altering course. Like the Emmaus two, we retrace our steps and face what we have faced before, our Kadesh Barnea.
We progress not by adopting diversions or avoiding personal barriers, but by tackling them head on. We need wisdom about how best to do this, and a spiritual director will help.
How can we recognise revelation? Here the disciples describe their burning hearts. Yet, there’s no hard or fast rule proving such ‘knowledge’. Faith demands action based on unsupported supposition, faith established on our own conviction that God’s spoken.
Responding to a public prophetic call for intercessors, I surprised myself. Nothing within me felt drawn to intercession above a meagre daily diet of scripture and prayer. Time revealed the purpose of this response as God reset my inner compass and, after some years, I found a destination within that call.
Such revelation is personal and is best tested with other faithful friends, but ultimately relies upon our obedience alone. Not easy if it means swimming against a tide of personal expectations and public approval. Being conformed to God will often require breaking social convention, as the Acts of the Apostles records.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:
Josh. 1:1–9; Ps. 84; Acts 15:22–41 and 16:11–34
AN ACTION TO TAKE:
Have you felt your heart burn within or
discerned God’s revelation in a different way?
It is always subjective, but have you pursued this
sense of call or packed it away and ignored it?
A PRAYER TO MAKE:
‘Lord, help me to be willing to trust Your call, recognising
that faith is an act of risk in response to Your love. Amen.’
Photo by Thuận Minh on Unsplash
