John 11:32 When Miryam came to where Yeshua was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Yeshua saw her crying, and also the Judeans who came with her crying, he was deeply moved and also troubled. 34 He said, “Where have you buried him?” They said, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Yeshua cried; 36 so the Judeans there said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “He opened the blind man’s eyes. Couldn’t he have kept this one from dying?”
38 Yeshua, again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying in front of the entrance. 39 Yeshua said, “Take the stone away!” Marta, the sister of the dead man, said to Yeshua, “By now his body must smell, for it has been four days since he died!” 40 Yeshua said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you keep trusting, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the stone. Yeshua looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I myself know that you always hear me, but I say this because of the crowd standing around, so that they may believe that you have sent me.” 43 Having said this, he shouted, “El‘azar! Come out!” 44 The man who had been dead came out, his hands and feet wrapped in strips of linen and his face covered with a cloth. Yeshua said to them, “Unwrap him, and let him go!” 45 At this, many of the Judeans who had come to visit Miryam, and had seen what Yeshua had done, trusted in him.
Boldly speaking to God is something we’d all love to do. Sometimes we even claim to be doing just that. Conversing near full-time with the One that set the planets in motion is the stuff of legend and we deem ourselves legendary..
But what happens when there is an audience? A very, very small few will speak what they hear with no shame. Done in love, this is beautiful. (see: the prophets). Done in anger, this is destructive.
The large majority of followers, however, “humbly” shrink back so as not to offend. Or try to remain “respectful” of others’ disbelief. Or any other “rational” excuse we can come up with. No matter the reason, we shy away from becoming a public spectacle.
Why is that? Embarrassment of self, perhaps? Not knowing what to say? Or maybe it’s because we are afraid to embarrass our God.
Not sure what I mean?
Suppose you hear clearly that it will rain tomorrow even though there has been no rain in months. Would you say anything? I’m not too sure I would. The reason?
“What if…”
What if it doesn’t rain? Could you imagine the embarrassment? And this embarrassment is two-fold. Either He changed His mind and you’re the one left holding the bag (His fault), or you didn’t actually hear God (your fault). Both of these are horribly painful.
Let’s start with the second issue presented here since that one tends to have the most clear correction.
Good ol’ Ezekiel sums this up quite nicely:
Ezekiel 22:23 The word of Adonai came to me: 24 “Human being, tell her this: ‘You are a land that is neither cleansed nor rained on in the day of fury. 25 There is a conspiracy of prophets in it like a roaring lion tearing up the prey; they have devoured people, seized wealth and valuables, and widowed many in it. 26 Her cohanim have done violence to my Torah, profaned my holy things, made no difference between the holy and the common, not distinguished between unclean and clean, hidden their eyes from my shabbats, and profaned me among themselves. 27 Her leaders in it are like wolves tearing up the prey to shed blood and destroy people, in order to benefit unjustly. 28 Her prophets have “plastered” for them with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says Adonai Elohim,” when Adonai has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have extorted, robbed, wronged the poor and needy and unjustly oppressed foreigners.
In summary, if you didn’t hear, don’t speak. And if you do hear, but it’s a voice that isn’t God’s, it’s time for some deliverance. Oh, and don't speak.
Moving on…
With the first scenario, you’d be forced to ask why Abba would be so cruel as to embarrass you when all you were trying to do was give Him honor. There is no greater pain than standing up for God then realizing you’re all alone. You boldly proclaim the truth as He has revealed it to you, but then it doesn't happen (at least how you thought -- or hoped). This situation appears to be anti-Biblical at its core because there is no way Abba would have you do something that would cause all of those around you to mock Him because of your obedience, right?
Matthew 27:45 From noon until three o’clock in the afternoon, all the Land was covered with darkness. 46 At about three, Yeshua uttered a loud cry, “Eli! Eli! L’mah sh’vaktani? (My God! My God! Why have you deserted me?)” 47 On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, “He’s calling for Eliyahu.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, soaked it in vinegar, put it on a stick and gave it to him to drink. 49 The rest said, “Wait! Let’s see if Eliyahu comes and rescues him.” 50 But Yeshua, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.
It turns out the greatest example of this happening ushered in a path directly to the Father -- for us.
Yeshua in this moment, dying before their very eyes, was supposed to come and free them from the oppression they were under, both politically and spiritually. And yet, here He is. Powerless. They had all given their entire lives over to Him and were absolutely convinced He was the One they were waiting on.
They went around telling everyone the “Good News” and explaining that the Yeshua was the One they indeed had been seeking for hundreds of years. The bad news is that Yeshua never corrected them. They heard, they saw, they believed, they then spoke boldly. But now the mockers turned out to be right.
God had changed His mind. Or did He?
Before we answer that, let’s consider one more thing.
Suppose you mustered up enough courage to speak, and it did rain? Now how do you feel? Yeah, that feeling you just had is one of relief and self-satisfaction.
“Phew! Well, I knew it would happen because God Himself said so. Now, don’t you believe me, uh, I mean, don’t you now believe in Him?”
The trouble with the majority of spectators is that there will never be enough evidence. Ever. But following the Messiah has never consisted of the majority. Unfortunately, it is always a small few.
And to those few, you aren’t speaking to them to try and get them to believe your words. You’re wanting them to believe the Word. And good news for us, His Word is independent of us. Unless, of course, we know for sure that what we’ve been taught is His Word through and through. This implies His Word is so deeply ingrained within me that my words and His Word are indistinguishable.
Can you see the trouble that’s brewing?
What if Abba knew there was pride within you and He needed for that to break off from you? What better way than to remove the “you” from the equation. Besides, the goal in this scenario is for you to be brought low so that in the future He will be lifted up.
Yeshua never spoke in order that He may receive glory. He spoke so that the Father may receive the glory:
John 5:19 Therefore, Yeshua said this to them: “Yes, indeed! I tell you that the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; whatever the Father does, the Son does too. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed.”
The goal is for people to be amazed and start asking the right questions. Yeshua stood at the crossroads of these people’s lives and simply pointed to the path of life. He didn’t need celebrity status and he certainly didn’t need the hearers to validate what He heard from His Father.
He walked deeply in the groove of humility and gave everything over to His Father. Everything.
You are called to do the exact same thing. And you may need to be embarrassed a time or two before that really sinks in.
Let’s go back now to the lack of rain…
What we’ll consider now is the most likely option for those that heard clearly…and it didn’t rain.
Suppose what He told you was 100% true but you didn’t understand what He told you. It made sense within the context of your world, but He was actually telling you something about His world.
Example:
John 2:19 Yeshua answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 The Judeans said, “It took 46 years to build this Temple, and you’re going to raise it in three days?”
Of course, we all know the punchline to what Yeshua was saying:
John 2:21 But the “temple” he had spoken of was his body.
I find it incredibly interesting that Yeshua did not follow up with any kind of response. The words were spoken and then left to sit. No defense, no rebuttal. He let the mockers mock then stayed silent. Why is that? I believe it is the responsibility of the hearer to reconcile what they hear with God. Solomon even gives us a glimpse into this reality:
Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
Speaking then interpreting (or justifying) is never a worthy venture. Like I said before, there is nothing that will be received as evidence for some (well, most) people. People hate God so much they will believe anything at all other than what He has said.
And I hate to be the one to tell you, but those that hate Him are not going to be convinced by your eloquent and insightful wordsmithing either.
But this is not your audience.
There is a small population that will hear. They have been waiting their entire life to hear and only now have they opened their ears to do so. Those lost sheep know their Shepherd’s voice and when they hear it, they come to Him.
The gigantic key here is that we are His voice in the earth today. Sure, His Spirit can speak though situations, pain, even audibly, but for the most part it is what we say that enters the ears of those that are lost and want to be found. Meaning we are responsible to know what He says:
“Yes, indeed! I tell you that YOU cannot do anything on YOUR own, but only what YOU see the Father doing; whatever the Father does, YOU do too.”
This is how we speak. When I started this exercise you may not have even considered that you were supposed to say nothing at all. Unless you do what the Father says to do, and say what the Father says to say, then you can expect trouble to come and find you.
That being said, if He says to say something, then do it. Then leave it up to the hearers to reconcile what they have heard. There is no reason for you to be embarrassed if it doesn’t happen because the issue isn’t with you. It’s between God and those that hate Him.
But for the select few, they may hear His voice, get up, and walk out of that tomb.
We’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about you hearing, but communication is always a two-way street.
Does God hear you?
Seriously. Sit and think about that for a moment. On a cerebral level, sure, we know God hears everything. But does He hear you?
Right now, the King of the Universe, the Maker and Creator of all -- does He hear you?
When you cry out for mercy, does He hear you?
When you beg for forgiveness, does He hear you?
When those close to you have wandered away from the Kingdom, does He hear you?
When you call forth those that have died back into life, does He hear you?
We sure hope so, but we doubt it.
On the contrary, when you gossip, does He hear you?
When you slander someone, does He hear you?
When you speak lies, does He hear you?
When you misuse His Words to condemn others, does He hear you?
We sure hope not, but we know He did.
I hope you realize this is not an exercise in simply hearing sounds. It’s an exercise in hearing and understanding.
Hearing is only part of the formula. To shema means not only to audibly hear, but to understand and obey as well.
It’s the meaning of what we say that gets heard.
What is your intent in receiving mercy? Just to have the pain lifted so you can live your normal life, or do you want to learn how to show mercy to others?
What is the intent in receiving forgiveness? To have the guilt lifted so you can relax a bit, or so you can learn how to forgive others?
What is your intent in having those that are lost get found? To alleviate the embarrassment and discomfort in being exposed to their way of life, or to see them walk in true freedom?
What is your intent in bringing back those that have died? To have the void in your own life filled, or to allow you to apologize to them and ask for forgiveness?
If we approach life with a me-centered view, we will always ask for what suits us the best. Getting rid of our own pain is usually our deepest motivator but the problem is that our life is not about us. It’s about everyone other than us.
In summary, yes He hears you. You just don’t know what you’re saying.