What a sappy title. But here's the deal: When we are tempted to walk down a path that leads to sin, that path is not simply on the way to a bad place, it is on a path away from a good place--THE good place: namely, enjoying God. And while on our way to this bad place, God will whisper or in some cases shout (more on this later) to turn us back to the right path. It's amazing to think how much God cares for us that he speaks to our hearts through our consciences in order that we would be spared the sorrow of that bad place we were headed, but more importantly, to reward our obedience to his voice with the gift of more awareness of his very self (and I would argue this is more active than we typically think of it, especially for the Spirit-dwelt believer).
It occurred to me yesterday that we may inwardly desire (and sometimes outwardly express a desire) for an experience like the Apostle Paul had on the road to Damascus. He was on his path to a bad place: sin. And God spoke to him and asked him what he was doing. He asked with whom he was speaking. "The Lord, whom you are persecuting." This changed his life so much that he was able to say that though he was the chief of sinners (off to persecute Christ's bride) he was shown mercy (what grace!) and he also gained a valuation of Christ that made everything else garbage compared to knowing Him. "If only I," we think, "had and experience like that, I would have real faith--I would be stronger, and more attuned to Christ."
But the truth is, God does speak to us. He whispers all the time--especially when we are moving away from him. We hear it, and we ignore it. And in doing so, we miss his love. We miss Him. Like Paul, perhaps we should spend some time thinking about what kind of God (Who are you Lord?) this is that we are dealing with. It's easy for me to think of him as this angry, "how dare you disobey the Omnipotent of the Universe!" kind of God. But when we think a bit harder, we can see that he is really after us much more tenderly than that. I think we imagine a harsh tone, because we think that is what we deserve and what will motivate us. But he doesn't give what we deserve, and he doesn't want us to be motivated that way. He speaks tenderly but with all the authority of the God that he is. And this should awaken us to want to be with such a person. That such a Person would interact with us in such a benevolent way is dumbfounding.
