One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: ‘Power belongs to you God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love.’  Psalm 62:11

God is a kind Father.  He is also gracious.  He is a whispering God, and His voice is heard in the wind of the Holy Spirit.  He is an encourager and patient with us as we grow.  He is specific in His instruction, enabling us on to make decisive and wise decisions.  My experience of Him as Abba encompasses all of this.  Even when He has had to correct me, I have known Him to be kind. 

I am puzzled when a brother or sister in Christ says, “I’m just hard-headed.  God has to hit me upside the head to get me to listen.”  The manner in which this is communicated makes it seem as though this kind of stubbornness is a badge of honor.  Perhaps Jesus would want to ask, “Wouldn’t you want a whispering Father instead?” 

The question may be posed, “Doesn’t God deal differently with different types of people?”  I’m sure that’s true in many respects.  There are larger-than-life personalities.  There are wall flowers.  There are strong-willed saints.  There are compliant believers.  Each could, I guess, require a different approach from their Heavenly Father.  Yet my question is this ~ If each of us is called to be humble before God no matter who we are or how we’re wired, wouldn’t His whisper suffice?  I recall that the prophets who encountered the revelation of God fell on their face and were undone. 

The word humility comes from the word ‘humus’ – meaning ‘dirt.’  That does not mean we are worthless as dirt, but we are face down in the dirt as we are prostrate before a holy God.  

To whom will the Lord be revealed?  The one who walks humbly with their God.  Elijah, the larger-than-life prophet, heard God in the wind.  He exemplified Deuteronomy 8:6. It’s paramount that you keep the commandments of God, your God, and that you walk down the roads he shows you and reverently respect him.  The Message

May You never have to raise Your voice to my stubbornness.  Amen