seeking a voice in the words....

For bible study this summer I'm doing Beth Moore's Daniel.  It is amazing to say the very least.

My favorite session in recent weeks is in Daniel 9.  We study that Daniel realizes the desolation of Jerusalem is at hand and he turns to the Scriptures for wisdom.  Notice he went to the Scriptures for discernment.  He didn't go to them for encouragement (but there is plenty of that in there).  He went seeking what he knew was there.  Not hoping or wishing he could find the answer; he knew the answers were there and he was aggressively seeking them.

So what happened next?  God revealed to him exactly what he was looking for.  Of course He did use His angel Gabriel as well...but stick with me here.  How wonderful to go to the Source knowing full good and well you would be served what you were seeking? 

So if it's that easy, why don't we all do that?  I think many of us seek Him in our prayers, but many times they're delivered in passing; a few minutes before a meal, a couple of sentences before we drift off to sleep.  Not really ever stopping to have a one on one with God, pouring out our heart, reading His Word, then patiently waiting for Him to answer us.

Sitting still for most of us is a stretch we can't wrap our minds around.  But what a blessing to devote a few minutes each morning to see what God would like to say to us that day.  I'm certainly going to try harder on the listening end of it.  God just might have a few things to say to me that I've been missing.

If we earnestly seek Him and His direction then He will deliver.  His Word says that's the way it works.  So who are we to question that?