Paul and His Moment of Hearing

Most know the story surrounding Saul's (Paul) conversion.  If not I would highly recommend taking a look at Acts 9:1-31.  Within that encounter with Jesus, something interesting takes place aside from his miraculous conversion of course, and Jesus bringing him to his knees.  In verse 9, it gives an interesting detail into something(s) that took place that seem to be crucial.

And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Paul was without sight because of the radiance of Jesus' glory he had witnessed on the road to Damascus.  Some would see this period of blindness as a time of punishment for what Paul was doing to the Church of his day.  This doesn't seem to be the case because if you think about it, what better way to be able to reflect upon the glories of Jesus Christ, and to be in the perfect spot for listening than when your sight is gone, and you deny your sense of smell and taste the opportunity to interact with anything.  The only sense that was really left aside from touch was hearing which amounts to listening.  Paul had ideal opportunity to do nothing but listen as God began to work in his life.

I wonder in our crazy visual, social media, frantic, time consuming culture, if we as Christians were to just take a "time-out" and get somewhere alone and close our eyes and maybe even deny our other senses the opportunity to interact with anything, and simply allow the sense of hearing to do its work, as God speaks to us through His Word and through our prayers.  Would this have change in our behavior as much as it did in Paul's life?  Oh it is not meant to deny the sovereign hand of God that called Paul to himself (v. 15), but upon God's calling and God setting us apart for His Glory, we still need to simply stop and listen.  Sometimes God speaks with obvious answers but other times God whispers and we must be ready to listen and allow our sense of hearing to be tuned to His Word and His voice.

No Greater Goal!

One thing the Lord has been dealing with me about in the past week or so is setting goals.  With that comes the objectives needed to achieve those goals.  Some will be much easier than others and will simply take a moment of fixing a situation while others will take time to achieve because they may require a change of habits or a change in focus and vision.   Yet J. I. Packer in Knowing God, puts into words what the greatest goal should be and may it be the central goal that we strive and battle for:

What makes life worthwhile is having a bit enough objective, something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance, and this the Christian has in a way that no other person has.  For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?

What is so beautiful about this reality is that as Jeremiah says, "Le him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me (God)", this should bring joy and excitement to our hearts and lives like nothing else.  But it gets better, because once we realize that God knew us before we knew Him it brings a whole new dynamic to our life.  Yet there is another element that makes it even more humbling, that in God knowing us, He knew us when we were enslaved to sin, and still by His Sovereign Grace came and brought us into a relationship to Him. Here are just a few of the verses which point to this reality that God knew us long before we even realized we loved Him:

Now that you know God-or rather are known by God - Galatians 4:9

 And the LORD said to Moses, 'I am pleased with you and I know you by name - Exodus 33:17

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart - Jeremiah 1:5 

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me...and I lay down my life for the sheep...My sheep listen to my voice, I know them...They shall never perish - John 10:14-15, 27-28 

J. I. Packer again gives a wonderful definition of this know:

The word 'know', when used of God in this way is a sovereign-grace word, pointing to God's initiative in loving, choosing, redeeming, calling and preserving.

So what higher goal could we seek to achieve than knowing God intimately? The answer to that is obvious, none, because once we realize God's sovereign Grace drives us closer to Him, then we can do nothing but realize that the greatest goal in this life is enjoy God and know Him more intimately than anything else.  Yes, the enemy and our minds will try to bring doubt and fear, but God's grace is far more efficacious than anything the enemy, this world, or even our minds can throw at Him.  May we all strive to this goal...to truly know God, or better yet be known by God.

J. I. Packer on Meditation

Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God.  It is an activity of holy thought, consciously  performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.  - Knowing God, J. I. Packer (Kindle version)

Meditation as Packer stated prior to this quote is a lost art within the Christian life.  It is rightly linked with prayer, because if our minds are not filled with the loftiness of God and with riches of His Word about Himself, then what are our prayers anchored in?  We first must fill our minds with the loftiness of God, and not just a head knowledge.  We also need to allow the Truth to penetrate the heart.   For the effects of this endeavor will be a hundred fold.   It will bare before us our little finite state compared to the grandeur of such a great God.   Also much like Isaiah when when we meditate upon the God of Scripture, we will cry, "Woe, I am completely sinful in all that I do compared to this glorious and great God."  Yet, in turn this brings about encouragement and comfort, because though we alone standing before God are nothing but sin, when we begin to "contemplate the unsearchable riches of divine mercy displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ" our entire world will be turned upside down.  Could it be that we do not want to be confronted by such a state in which there is no way of escape unless we fix our eyes upon the Cross of Christ and rest in His arms alone.   Meditation will naturally lead to prayer which will in turn lead to praise to God for His Glory and unmatched grace and mercy.