Wonder!

Hearing from God through observation (signs, circumstances and surprises)

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Opening

Have you ever thought about what an amazing mystery life is? All the wonders of humanity balanced upon a planet perfectly positioned to provide everything we need. The moon perfectly balanced with the sun to give us tides and seasons, beautiful variations that are still within the boundaries needed to sustain life. Not to mention all the signs and wonders so miraculous they simply can’t be the result of chance or chaos. I think it takes even more faith to believe that than to believe in a Creator. It would be more likely for an Encyclopedia to put itself together from paper and glue colliding - not to mention each and every definition in it’s place - than the wonders of our universe coming from nothing.

In Luke 12:27-28 Jesus says, “Consider the lilies how they grow: they do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you - you of little faith.”

All of creation speaks of God’s character and power. Throughout scripture, Old and New Testament, He uses natural things to demonstrate and teach us practical spiritual lessons. The soil, the birds, seeds, vines, fruit, the dawn, snow, rain, animals and flowers each one demonstrating God’s intention to teach us. Perhaps the answer to “why we’re here” is just that, one gigantic classroom of the King who created all things to teach us His ways and draw us closer into relationship with Him.

Paul writes in Romans 1:20 That “since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” We are indeed, without excuse. The created world around us declares the wonder and the glory of our God, an ever accessible teacher, communicating His power, character and personal investment in people - those who He made in his image.

God also carefully arranges situations in our lives to make His presence known. He speaks through societies, cultures, times and seasons. He sometimes speaks through a friend, even a stranger and guides us through life while honoring the unique way he made each of us. If we’re paying attention, we discover that God is always speaking, and today we’re going to explore how God speaks through careful observation of the world around us.

Pray

This is the fourth message in this series, “Hearing from God” inspired by Larry Kreider’s book, “Speak Lord, I’m Listening.” Before I begin this teaching, I feel I need to start with an important word of caution. Connecting creation to God’s revealed character and Scripture, deepens our awareness of His presence and purposes by paying attention to the world around us. However, treating nature as an autonomous system which contains hidden codes while ignoring the Holy Spirit and God’s Word is called divination, and that my friends is witchcraft, full stop.

All of the examples of observation today are useful for confirming what we have already been hearing in our hearts through Holy Spirit unction, and, as always, according to His Word. The key is to always be led by the Holy Spirit, in constant communication with God in prayer, and in obedience to the class text book... His Word. In this giant classroom we call “life on earth,” God uses all kinds of things to grab our attention, to confirm His Word, and to highlight what He’s been saying to us. If we’re paying attention, we can “hear” God speaking through observation.

Situational Observations

We’ll start with situational observations. Circumstances, signs, natural things and the unexpected. These things happen outside of our own influence, and they catch our attention because they seem orchestrated by the hand of God. Some people call these “God winks” giving hope and encouragement by showing us that God is present in our situation.

Circumstances

I have come to believe that there’s no such thing as coincidence. Circumstances that coincide with the things we’ve been thinking about can really get our attention. Maybe you’re thinking about a friend, and the next day you “just happen” to run into them at the grocery store. Or you’re dreaming about some plan for the future and it “just happens” that an opportunity presents itself which could feasibly make that dream come true. Some call it coincidence, others call it an open door, either way we wonder, “was that you, God?”

When circumstances line up as an answer to prayer or confirmation of the things that God has already been showing us, it could very well be the Lord using circumstances to speak to us. Sometimes He will block our path for reasons we don’t know, and it’s important not to try to force our way through. If He is asking you to do something, He will open a door that no man can shut, and He will make it abundantly clear that the door is open. As long as we are in relationship with Him, He will continue to clarify things as we take steps in the direction we feel He is leading us.

Signs

One way He may confirm what He’s saying is through a sign. The Bible if full of illustrations of God doing this. Every time it rains, we can usually see a sign of His covenant promise to never destroy the earth again with a flood. Joshua 10 describes a time when God made the sun to stand still over the battle to show that He was fighting for Israel. And who can forget Gideon and his fleece; that timid man who God called “mighty warrior” while he was threshing wheat in a winepress so as to hide from his enemies. He asked for many signs, over and over again to encourage his apprehensive heart.

Judges 6:36-40 describes how Gideon put out a fleece (that's the soft, fluffy stuff that’s twisted into thread for making cloth) he put the fleece outside his tent and asked the Lord to make it wet with dew while the ground would be dry as a sign that he had heard from the Lord correctly. “And that is what happened,” Judges 6:38 says, “Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.” But that wasn’t good enough for fearful Gideon, He asked for one more test, this time that the fleece would be dry while the ground was wet, and that night God did so.

Gideon needed these tests to strengthen his faith to obey the Lord in doing big things for the kingdom. He was insignificant and lowly in his own eyes, but all God needed was his faith. If our relationship with God is strong enough for us to understand what He’s saying, we won’t need to be like Gideon to test him. Signs should never be the sole reason for making a decision, God doesn’t want us to “roll the dice” and rush headlong into an unknown future. He wants us to seek Him intimately and often. If we learn to hear HS voice we won’t need a sign, but there are times He will use them to strengthen our faith to obey.

Natural Things

Another way we can observe God speaking with us is through nature. By observing how God cares for the universe, we understand how intentional and personal his care for us must be. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” God can teach us many insights and life lessons through the natural phenomenon all around us. The natural world was a common example in many of Jesus’ parables as He instructs us to rely on God as the natural world does.

Elements of nature are witnesses for the spiritual world and the way the Kingdom of God operates. He used the parable of the growing seed to teach that the kingdom has a mysterious process, orchestrated by God, without need human intervention or understanding. He used the vine and branches to illustrate spiritual dependence, and explain how that the Father sometimes prunes branches, cutting out things we don’t need, to increase fruitfulness. Fruit is a recurring metaphor for character, and Jesus taught that people are recognized “by their fruit,” and noted that good trees bear good fruit.

He used the birds to demonstrate how we receive provision from our Heavenly Father, and he criticized those who could interpret signs in the weather but failed to discern the hour their salvation had come. This criticism of the religious leaders emphasizes what I said earlier, the need for spiritual discernment when observing nature. We have to be paying attention to what God is doing already if we’re going to be able to interpret the spiritual times and seasons. We worship the Creator, and not the creature or created thing we are observing. A bird does not “give you a sign,” but God may use a bird to remind you that He is taking care of you.

Surprises

God can really use anything to speak to us. In Numbers 22, He even spoke through the mouth of a donkey to get through to a proud and disobedient prophet. God can even speak through non-believers to benefit the lives of believers. So, we should expect the unexpected and we shouldn’t dismiss anything out of hand just because it came from an unusual source. Prayerfully ask God to confirm what you’re hearing and trust that as you walk in faith, He will make things more clear.

Societal Observations

People are also part of creation. God created all people, and as diversified and different as we are, we have much in common. We believe that all societies share a common History, and we believe that no matter where the government divides, God is sovereign over all the kingdoms on earth, and He gives and takes them away as He wishes. Paying attention to these things are an important way to observe what’s happening in the spiritual realm.

Times & Seasons

We can observe the hand of God throughout history as rulers rise in power and fall in pride. 1 Corinthians 10:6 says, “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.” History repeats itself for a reason, God speaks to us through history and wants us to learn from past mistakes. He uses repetition and patterns to make us aware of times and seasons.

He also speaks of times and seasons yet to come in His Word, revealing Himself to us in ways perhaps they did not understand then, but we can understand today. For example, in Acts 2:17–18, Peter repeats the prophesy of Joel to the crowd that “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”

He goes on to speak of “wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.” The details of when and how these promises unfold are entirely in God’s hands, but we trust His Word and we know they will happen.

God has established boundaries around what we can and cannot know about the times and season we are in. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us that there is a time and season for everything, and 1:9-10 tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. There are patterns like seedtime and harvest, visions awaiting their appointed times, and seasons reaching their fullness according to His purposes. When the disciples asked Jesus about the timing of Israel’s restoration, He told them that such things remain within the Father’s exclusive authority. Yet concerning prophetic events of the last days, certain times and seasons can be known, and as believers we should seek to understand what God has plainly revealed in Scripture.

Different Cultures

God desires that before the last days that all people of all nations would hear the good news and turn to Him. He created every culture, race, and ethnicity - and He knows our differences and He knows exactly what each person will respond to. Acts 17:26–27 says, “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”

God speaks to different cultures differently, we should be careful not to assume that certain people groups don’t know God just because of the way they choose to practice their faith. We also need to take historical and cultural contexts into account when we are studying the scriptures. For example, understanding the traditions of a Galilean wedding will bring greater revelation to many of Jesus’ references to the Kingdom of Heaven. And studying the Jewish Passover traditions contained in the Sader meal will bring greater meaning to how you read the biblical accounts of the Last Supper.

Stories & Parables

Jesus spoke to the people in stories and parables because they are a common heart language in all cultures. Matthew 13:34 says, “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.” Telling stories allows the listener to discern spiritual truths with their spirit rather than hearing direct instructions with their ears. Spiritual truths are spiritually discerned. This method of telling stories emphasizes the free-will choice we have to either believe or not to believe. We can say, “it’s just a story” or we can listen to what our heart says and hear the voice of God calling us closer.

Self Observations

Hearing from God is an individualized experience. Just as God created the universe and every thing in it, He created the cultures and ethnicities of people, and He created each human being individually. We are all unique in all our ways, there are no two people just alike - even twins have their own unique personalities and characters. By learning how God wired us, and how He created us to be, in a sense we “listen” to His design for our lives.

Our Uniqueness

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Larry tells us in His book that that phrase, “the way they should go,” in the Hebrew language would say something like, “Train up a child according to his bent...” and when I read that, I couldn’t help but think of a bonsai tree.

Now, I’m not trying to promote eastern disciplines, but I do like being creative, and when I go to prune a bush, arrange flowers in a vase - or if I were to start the art of bonsai - the first thing I would look at is the way the plant is naturally shaped. Do it’s branches reach upward? hang downward? does it lean to the left or to the right. Before I do any trimming, I should observe which is the way it should go… according to its bent.

God created each of us with our own unique abilities and He has wired each of us perfectly to be able to speak to us and fulfill His purposes through us. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;” So if you’re not sure of your purpose in life, just do what God made you good at doing - enjoy it, and let Him mold and shape you according to your bent!

This reminds me of Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” We often think that means that God will give us whatever we want, but what it really means is that God gave us those desires, He placed the desires of our heart inside of us, and as we grow in relationship with Him He will use them for our good and for His glory.

We get so worried that we’re going to miss God’s plan for our lives when we ask Him, “what do you want me to do,” and we don’t seem to get a response. As we grow in spiritual maturity, God gives us more and more liberty to follow our hearts and sometimes His response to “what do you want me to do?” is “do what you want to do.” Trust those inner leadings and nudges that come from the way God has wired you. We’ve each been given different gifts that express themselves in our different motivations in life.

Romans 12:4–8 talks about some of the gifts that work together for the good of the body. “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” All of these gifts are needed, all are necessary, and all of them work together to establish God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Peoples Lives

The more we come to know ourselves and how God has wired us, the more comfortable we are in following His plan for our lives. None of us are perfect, we all have different ways of hearing from God, we come from different cultures and backgrounds, we have different stories and different gifts. One thing we all have in common is that while we are observing the world around us to hear from God, someone else is likely observing us… Your life is the only Bible some people will read.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:22 “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” As we go through this life, imperfect and uniquely put together, the greatest thing we can do is simply be ourselves. Don’t try to be anyone else - you won’t be happy and you won’t make God happy by doing this either. Our definition of perfect is not God’s definition. There’s no reason to hide your struggles or your shortcomings. People often come to believe because they see God working in someone else’s life.

They remember the person we used to be, our tempers, our habits, our lack of faith - and then they see the transformation that only God can do, from the inside out. God’s work is designed to be accomplished perfectly through imperfect people. We don’t need to be eloquent to share our story, we don’t have to be impressive to make an impression. All we need is to have faith in a God who can use us right where we’re at and with exactly what we’ve got. 2 Timothy 1:7 “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

Summary

Your own testimony is the most powerful story you have, don’t be afraid to share it. As the pre-believers around us see that we are just imperfect people who are surrendered to a perfect God, they “hear from God” through the observation of our lives! Today has been about how to hear from God by observing the world around us, but I want to end by encouraging you to be the Spirit-filled example of Christ to those around you. You can bring the wonder of God into any situation and any society through the power, love and self-discipline of His Holy Spirit within you.

Small group Questions

In your small groups this week:

Talk about a time when you perceived a sign from God in nature.

Share something about the culture of worship in your family or ethnic background.

Discuss mentorship and someone who has been influential in your walk with Christ.

Conclusion (Action) - Give them a next step. It could be specific, or it could be a question for them to reflect on.

As the Intercessors and Communion Stewards come forward, I would like to invite anyone who has not surrendered their life to Christ an opportunity to hear the Gospel message. God has been speaking to you, all along, He has led you here through a series of signs and circumstances, and He doesn’t want you to continue going through your life as if He did not exist. He created your innermost being, and He knows all your secrets. Take a moment today to humble yourself before the Lord, confess your imperfections and allow Him to cover you with His love. That’s what He did on that cross, He covered all your sins and shortcomings with the love of His life. He paid the price for your punishment so that you won’t have to face God’s wrath when He returns. The Scriptures say, “Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” and that’s all it takes, simply believe that He is God, He died for you, and when you die, He will raise you to life again to be with Him in the Father’s house.

Pray (Stand)

Tithes & Offerings

We have an opportunity each week to demonstrate our faith in the Lord of all by giving a tithe of all our income unto Him. We bless these tithes and offerings, Lord, the gifts and the givers, and we believe according to your word, that if we test you in this 10%, you will bless the other 90% with abundance. May our humble offering be pleasing to you and bring glory to your name, Jesus Amen.

Communion

We also bless the elements of our communion; Matthew 26:26–28 says that “While they were eating (the Passover meal), Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

We give thanks to you, Lord for this bread, and thanks to your Son for His love poured out on the cross. We eat and drink in remembrance of you.

Benediction

Come, pray, give, eat and drink and may you be able to observe all the ways He is speaking to you until He returns.