COULD YOU PLEASE REPEAT THAT?
I’m usually very diligent, and I knew it was past the
time I was supposed to call to schedule an appointment, but I just didn’t feel
right about doing it quite yet. But being a bit overzealous about getting
things done, I thought probably I should just do it, but I still didn’t feel
right about it so I didn’t. Then I asked the Lord if I should call now and He
said no. It was a very quiet answer, so I asked him again, and again I felt
like he was still saying no. But I just wasn’t sure.
So finally, I stopped what I was doing, which was pulling
weeds, and I got myself quiet and really focused on my question and asked him
directly, “Should I call now? Just give me a yes or a no.” Well, this time His voice was louder and more
stern sounding, not angry but just punctuated! I got the message and immediately
stopped thinking about having to make that call today, and my mind relaxed!
Phew!
I know it’s okay to ask a few times if we’re unsure
because James 1:5 says: “If any man of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
What a promise! God doesn’t mind us asking. He gives liberally. The word “liberally”
means generously, graciously, and unconditionally (Vine’s).
What God doesn’t do is “upbraid” us when we ask for
wisdom. “Upbraid” means to criticize, reproach, punish, express disapproval or
disappointment with. God doesn’t feel any of those ways towards us even when we
repeatedly ask Him. Instead, He always gives us an answer.
There are several examples in the Bible where we see that
God willingly repeats Himself so that the person gets the clear message. I’ll
talk about two of them.
In Genesis 41:32, Pharaoh had a dream and he couldn’t
find anyone to interpret, so he asked Joseph. Joseph told him that he wasn’t
going to make up something, but it was God who would interpret what it really
meant.
In the dream Pharaoh was given two different analogies of
what was going to happen in Egypt. One analogy was with cattle and the other
with stalks of corn. “And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, ‘The dream of Pharaoh is
one: God hath shown Pharaoh what he is about to do’” (Gen. 41:25). So in
Pharaoh’s dream the two analogies were different ways of saying the same thing.
God doubled His message, and He will do that for us too!
“And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice;
it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to
pass” (Gen. 41:32).
And another great section of scripture where we see this
willingness of God to repeat Himself is in the book of Joshua, where God worked
with Joshua after he’d spent days in mourning the death of Moses. “The Lord spake
unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, ‘Moses my servant is dead;
now therefore arise, go…’” (Joshua1: 1b-2a).
Then God repeats Himself three times to get Joshua
convinced he needed to get up and get going. First in verse 6 “Be strong and of
a good courage…” Second in verse 7 “Only be thou strong and very courageous.”
Then the third time in verse 9 more emphatically and with some encouragement
that Joshua obviously needed: “Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a
good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is
with thee whither soever thou goest.”
After God repeated Himself three times, Joshua received
in his heart and went into action. He immediately told his people to get food
together and get ready because in three days they were to “pass over this
Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD
your God giveth you to possess it” (Joshua 1:11).
It took three times and extra encouragement to get Joshua
to move forward, but when he let it sink into his heart and he believed it, he
moved powerfully and fast.
God loves us so much that He is willing to let us ask
several times for His answer, like He did with me. And He is gracious and kind
enough to repeat His messages, to make them clear like with Pharaoh, or to
invoke courage and action, like with Joshua.
Love, Carolyn
More good truths from God’s Word and how to apply
these truths in everyday living—get your copy of WINGS: A Journey in
Faith
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