Hearing God's Word

 

“Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.” – Hebrews 12:12-13

If there are any that still don’t fully understand how God can speak to us through His scriptures, I want to offer up the verses He lead me to today…the verses above.  These verses sit right in the middle of Hebrews 12 talking about how God corrects His children, and being renewed by pursuing peace, and removing bitterness.  The verses seem to have no connection, when I read them, to what is before or what is after.

But they do connect with me.  I don’t like to talk about my physical “issues” because I don’t believe in whining.  But so that you’ll understand…here goes. 

I have a problem with my left arm called cubital tunnel syndrome.  I’ve had it about 2 years now.  It’s a nerve issue in my elbow that makes my little finger and outside of my hand numb or ache if the arm stays bent for a while.  Previously, I had gotten shots in the knuckle of the little finger every six months or so.  But now I try not to do that.  How do I treat it to keep it from hurting?  I let it “hang down” from the side of my desk chair when I can, unbending the elbow.  I let it hang off the bed at night, hanging down straight.

I also fell and hurt my knee back in September, and a knot on the bone still hasn’t healed.  It hurts to kneel on it, and to bend it.  So…with my “feeble knee”, I haven’t been walking or trying to run since the fall.  In fact, I think I’ve walked maybe twice since then.

Now, with that knowledge…read the verses again:

“Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”

God was telling me to get up off my butt and get some exercise while I still can!  It is NOT okay to let the earthly temple He has given me be destroyed from neglect. Without it, I won’t be able to endure the race He has set before me (which just happens to be what the first of this chapter is about!).  I just have to laugh when He speaks this directly to me, especially on a very cold day when I know He wants me to get out there.

Make no mistake.  He will speak to His children through His word.  John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”  It just takes faith to hear it.

Faith sees it.

Faith accepts it.

Faith receives it.

Without faith when you read God’s word, it’s just words on a page.  But when you walk with Him, you know His ways to speak to you, and His words are sweet. And when you hear those words, your part is the end of John 10:27, “and they follow me.” 

I guess I’d better get bundled up and find a coat.