Being Shushed: To Be Changed

The melody of the Gospel is simple and poignant. It is a song of love and sacrifice and transcendence that has the power to change the human heart.

But sometimes we don’t want to be changed. We want to be moved. We want to be inspired. We want to be entertained. But we do not want to be changed. We prefer to harmonize with a different music . . . sing lyrics that are popular and comfortable . . . rather than submit to the Eternal Voice that calls us into harmony with God.

My last blog was about being still.
This one is about being changed.
And change cannot happen without stillness.

Generosity.
Wisdom.
Patience.
Moral uprightness
Peace.
Steadfastness.
Hope.

These are things that come from the broken, quiet, still place where God changes a heart.
They are not earned through the school of hard knocks.
They cannot be bought in the marketplace of busy schedules and success.
They will not seek approval from applauding, admiring audiences.
They do not engender the kind of public popularity that brings notoriety and fame.
They are vulnerable.
They are quiet.
They are dependent upon God’s Word because they have no influence or power of their own.
Their posture is bent.
Their demeanor is prudent.
They are usually hidden.
And they are utterly harmonious with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There is a different melody playing in the world today, however, that is in discord with God’s Gospel.
It is boastful and craves fame.
It publicly accuses others of the very things it does in secret.
It requires unwavering allegiance.
It is harmless as a dove when basking in adulation, but it is a raging bull when uncovered by Truth.
It continually conducts warfare, but never personally shows up on the battlefield – preferring to leave the casualties to its foot soldiers.
It hates the 10 Commandments because it feeds upon moral relativism.
It fogs spiritual Truth with re-definitions of meekness, goodness, grace, and love.
It seeks to benefit where it has not worked, yet proclaims nobility for its commonness.
It calls for an end to judgmentalism, yet exalts itself by denigrating others.
It promises mysteries for those who seek, but its revelations leave you lost and confused.
It values wit or charisma or beauty or anything else with which it can buy influence and power.
It comes from a place of loud, busy, deceptive clamor that hates God’s quietness.

I don’t usually lean toward negative things in my blog. But I hear an attack on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is brokered by satan’s kingdom and sometimes bought by the church. I believe that we are seeing spiritual days like the prophet Elijah saw. He saw the rule of King Ahaz. He understood the power of Jezebel. He was even afraid. Here is part of Elijah’s story as recorded in 1 Kings 19:9-13:

And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him,

"What are you doing here, Elijah?" 

So he said, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life." 

Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord."

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind;

and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;

and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire;

and after the fire a still small voice. 

So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said,

"What are you doing here, Elijah?"

So I am speaking.
And I am pleading to believers . . . followers . . . disciples of Jesus the Messiah.

Be still.
Be quiet.
Listen.
To the music of our lives, our relationships, our beliefs, our testimonies . . .
To the call of God to be different . . .

It isn’t enough to only be inspired by God.
We must be changed by Him.
And change only happens in the place of holy stillness

. . . where the only sound we hear is the melody of God’s Gospel

. . . and the only sound we make is the deep groaning of repentance.

That is where harmony is born.
Harmony that is pure.
Harmony that is True.
Harmony that finds its fame in the cross of Christ and its hope in the Gospel it brings.
The real Gospel.
Not necessarily the popular one.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
He was in the beginning with God. 
All things came into being through Him, 
and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 
The Light shines in the darkness, 
and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:1-5 (NASB)

Be still before the LORD

and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when men succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil.

For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

Psalms 37:7-9

Are we being still?
Are we hearing His voice?
Are we being changed?
With whom are we harmonizing?
What are we doing here?

Psalms 46:10-11
Lesa K. Reid