Experiencing God's Presence #343

“Stand up, son of man,” said the voice. “I want to speak with you.” The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet.

Ezekiel 2:1-2

The first verse calls Ezekiel to his feet in order to hear God. The next verse implies that the Spirit compelled Ezekiel to stand as a reaction to God’s voice. And both are true; Scripture is full of people who had to change their posture to hear God’s voice but also of people who heard His voice and then had to change their posture (see Daniel 10:11 and Revelation 1:17, for example). The physical response is symbolic. An encounter with God always provokes movement from one point to another.

Clearly God can speak to us in order to calm us and give us peace and rest, but He generally does so only when we’re restless and anxious. Even then, His voice provokes movement from one state of being to another. God speaks to shift our direction, get our attention, correct our attitude or behavior, settle our heart, call us into a new mission, open our eyes to His purposes, and prompt us to reach out to others. In every case, we are somehow different than before. The heart of His voice is change.

Position yourself for an encounter with God by standing to hear Him. But when He speaks, reposition yourself because of the encounter in order to do what He has said. The necessary change may be subtle—perhaps nothing more than an encouraging word that causes you to embrace a deeper level of faith or dispense with an unnecessary fear—but it is change nonetheless. Both before and after, your posture has a lot to do with your experience of hearing God. And when you respond appropriately, you position yourself to hear Him the next time as well. Move toward God, and also move with Him. Then you will find Him moving on your behalf too.

Lord, I’m standing at attention to hear You, and I’m standing ready to move at the sound of Your voice. I want our encounters to change me, no matter how subtly or radically You want them to. Help me live in sync with You.

From the book