Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Hearing God's Voice-1

The X'mas special thought about the wise-men tripping & running ahead without following the star, stirred a thought about HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD and OBEYING IT RIGHT THROUGH to the end.

Its one thing to hear the voice of God and it's another to obey it!
Most of us settle for the first part and we take pride in the fact, that we have heard His voice.
Though that poses a challenge in itself - I mean, hearing God's voice - it's NOT as simple, as we might want it to be.
The interesting challenge is obeying what we just heard.

For our next thought, we remain in the same narrative which explains the birth of Jesus & the issues around it.

Matthew 2:13-18 - THE ESCAPE TO EGYPT

God orchestrates events in the lives of men to weave His great plan. And many times, it's left upto us to follow His lead, to see His Sovereign plans unfold.
Earlier, we saw the visitation of the angels to the wise-men with an urge NOT to return to King Herod.
Surprise, surprise - they obeyed!

Now the angels go about the next step in God's plan, ie: to warn Joseph about the impending assault on the children.
Note that the angels give a reason for the urgency (vs.13). Joseph obeys.

And by the time Herod realized (vs.16) he was foxed, almost 2 yrs. had gone by.
We don't know for sure how long Herod waited for the Magi to return, before he realized he was cheated; but when he realized he had been outwitted by the Magi, he goes wild and orders a massacre.

So, what happened during these 2 years from the time the star first appeared? Let's check out the sequence of events:

* The Magi followed the star & went to King Herod (vs.2,3) - could not have taken more than 3 days! Let's say it took 1 week

* They stayed there until Herod called for his counsel & found out about this new-born King (vs.4-8) - don't know how long it took!! But this might have taken a long long time, going by other events which took place!

* they continued following the star, when they realized the baby is not in the palace (vs.9,10) - perhaps 2 to 3 days here - let's say another week.

* they found the baby & worshipped Him (vs.11) - probably a day here!

* warned in a dream to go by another route (vs.12) - maybe the same night they saw baby Jesus!

* Joseph warned in a dream, after the Magi left (vs.13) - seems like it was right after the wise men had gone - probably the same night or a day later!

* Joseph took the child and the mother immediately that night (vs.14) - probably the same night, when he had that dream

* Herod waiting patiently for the Magi to return (vs.16) - let's be generous and say he waited for a full year!


Going by this, the 2 big chunks in time are:
1) (vs.4-8) - when the Magi's stayed at the Palace, until they knew they had to move on
2) (vs.16) - when Herod waited for the Magi to return with the news of having found the baby that was born.
Even if we say he waited for a year (which is a long time to wait, when one is anxious!), the fact remains that these wise-men perhaps stayed put in the palace for a long time.


When we cease to follow the guidance of the Lord, not just us - but many feel uncomfortable & there are tensed moments.
A parallel to this is the way the sailors faced the rough sea, due to a disobedient Jonah in the boat.


What are we still waiting for?
If God has spoken, let's be obedient and keep going with Him.
Assumption along the way will end us and others in trouble.
But it's not just to avoid the consequence that we are called to obey; but the promise of blessings which is in store, as we walk in obedience.

May the dawn of the New Year bring new hope and new joy as we pursue the high calling in our lives.

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