Will you know God when He moves in your life?
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Complacency kills. It kills in the work environment when people ignore safety regulations to move a little faster. It kills on the road when people get a little too confident in their driving and don’t keep their eyes open. And it kills spiritually. Complacency can slow your walk with Christ and obscure your vision – to the point where you might not recognize God when He moves in your life.
This happens when we get a little too comfortable in our Christian lives. When the sacred act of prayer and communion with our Lord becomes routine. When you stop thinking about what you’re praying for and instead run through a quick and thoughtless script. This is the mumbled prayer before dinner that the rest of the table can barely hear. The quick nod towards Christ before heading off to bed. It happens when our expectations take control – when we focus on what we want to see from God so much that we forget to look for what else He may be showing us.
This isn’t a new phenomenon. Even back in the days of Elijah people were missing the forest for the trees when looking for God. 1 Kings 11 shows us how difficult it can be, even for the truly devoted, when we let our expectations cloud our vision.
The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Elijah was looking for the fantastic. He was looking for a five-alarm act of God delivered with the spectacle of a powerful windstorm, in the world-shaking roar of an earthquake, or in the raging flames of a spiritual wildfire. But none of those things came. When the voice of God finally reached Elijah’s ear, it was only a whisper.
Elijah had been through a lot at that point. His life was being threatened and he fled to the woods alone in desperation. He thought his life was over and begged the Lord for a merciful death. He needed direction, he needed to recognize what God wanted from him. Just before his flight into the woods, he witnessed a miracle where God proved himself on Mount Carmel and it colored his expectations. He was expecting another miracle, another blazing pyre or sign from above. He wasn’t ready to hear God even though He was already with him.
Be wary of complacency. Be wary of applying your expectations on God. Instead, try to recognize that God is always with us. That His voice is often only a whisper, his directions often just a small tap on the shoulder, not a shove. When we embrace life knowing that God is always with us, always providing direction and learn to look and listen for Him, our spiritual lives flourish and God moves in ways no one can expect.
