One of the phrases God says most in all the Bible goes something like this: “But you did not listen to Me.”
Another sentiment He repeats often is the call to remember or to review God’s faithfulness in the past … even when we fail to listen to His words of guidance, truth, and promise.
When we fail to obey or refuse to listen, Our Father remembers well—not our failures, but His promise to His children.
“. . . and I will remember their sins no more.” - Jeremiah 31:34
“. . . and I will remember their sins no more.” - Hebrews 8:12
When we don’t listen and obey, we fail to trust God. The root cause of these actions is our belief that, “I have a better way.” When we go through those doors—the ones that lead to our ideas and ways being better than God’s way and thoughts—many times, we will have a momentary success, but there will always be long-term consequences.
The only way to demonstrate that we trust God’s way and truth is to do what He asks of us. And when we don’t, our Father will nudge us and say, “But you would not listen to Me.”
In the Old Testament when you would see in Scripture the words of, “Hear O Israel, what the Lord your God says,” the assumption was that if you heard God speak, obedience would follow.
Yet we persist in doing the opposite—pursuing our own ideas instead of the Lord’s ideals.
God longs to make Himself known to each of His children, but we will never get to experience our Father’s presence fully until we say, “Yes, Lord, no matter what!”
If necessary, go back and remember … remember our Lord Jesus and His words:
- “Father, not my will but your will be done.”
- “Shall I not drink the cup my Father gives me?”
- “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
- “It is finished.”
The Cross must be individualized. Jesus’ cry of “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” must be personalized.
The Cross must be seen as God’s greatest act of love for all eternity, and it was about you and me. When I am struggling and I can’t connect all the dots or figure out why, I go running to my Jesus and your Jesus, my Savior and your Savior—shouting out “paid in full!”
I may never have the answer to why I am in pain, sorrow, or suffering … but when I see the Cross, my heart says, “It’s okay Lord, You are worthy to be trusted.”
Jesus listened and said, “Yes Father,” and experienced the Cross. Because Jesus listened and obeyed, there will be a time in the future when every knee shall bow and tongue confess Jesus as Lord God.
Now it’s our time… our call… our stage… our destiny… to listen and obey to the glory of the Father.