Spiritual warfare

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Lessons from the whirlwind

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Lessons from the whirlwind

After about an hour listening to a man’s story the other day, I said to him, “You’ve been living in a whirlwind.” He thought that was a pretty apt description.

Life seems like a whirlwind every so often. When we’re caught up in it, things can seem to be out of control. We lose sight of God, we find it hard to see any purpose in what’s happening to us, and we feel helpless, abandoned and lost.

But I think God operates in the whirlwind. The fact that he created the world and he also sustains it means he is always in control. The whirlwind that looks like confusion to us may in truth be full of his purposes.

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Be still and know that I am God

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Be still and know that I am God

Be still and know that I am God. 

It’s a verse from Psalm 46 that’s on a thousand plaques. But we get its meaning totally wrong. Discovering the right meaning, though, leads us to great encouragement. 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

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When hearing God's voice may save your life

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When hearing God's voice may save your life

It was very early on a wintry Saturday morning about three years ago. I had set off for an event I was speaking at. I had driven for about twenty minutes without passing a single vehicle.

Often I use time alone in the car to pray. As I was praying, and without any warning, I heard a voice speaking to me. The words were clear as crystal: “Danger ahead, slow down.” If it wasn’t audible to my ears, it was sharply audible to my spirit.

I have learned not to analyze words God speaks. If you analyze, you place your own reasoning above God’s, and you’ll miss it. My instant mental reaction was to question. After all, with no one out and a clear road, what could the danger be? But I obeyed.

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Can we hear from God?

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Can we hear from God?

“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” So says the angel to the apostle John. What this means, according to G.K. Beale, the greatest living interpreter of the last book of the Bible, is that we are a prophetic people.

But how are we to understand this?

To be prophetic means to speak forth God’s word. That in turn implies the capability to hear and understand that word. To be a prophetic people, therefore, has to mean we are a people who can hear God.

This kind of statement often brings controversy and conjures up visions of slightly odd individuals saying strange things and claiming to have a pipeline to heaven which no one else can contradict.

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Facing the assault

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Facing the assault

I admit it. I was wrong.

I really had thought spending the winter in south-western Michigan would mean escape from 35 years of relentless snow. Until well into February, I was right. The total snowfall had been negligible. And so when the forecast called for six to eight inches and everyone started to panic, I called it Michigan snowmageddon and mocked the locals who were rushing to the supermarket to clear the aisles of bread and milk and cancelling every event in sight. Even without a snowblower, my superior level of fitness and a trusty shovel would be enough to face any challenge a feeble American winter could throw at a battle-hardened Canadian.