Do Not Quench the Spirit

Do not quench the Spirit  1 Thessalonians 5:19

Today I have decided to come back to this blog.  It was good for me...but I have stopped keeping it.  Since it was a good way to keep me accountable for doing a regular quiet time, I see value in it.  I admit to quenching the Spirit as of late. I am back to square one.

Chambers.
The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze— so gentle that unless you are living in complete fellowship and oneness with God, you will never hear it.

I don't hear His voice anymore.  I can't hear it.  I say, "Why, Lord, aren't you loud like a thunder or a wind or an earthquake so I can hear you clearly?"  I know it is because He is never loud. He always chooses to whisper and I so often am caught up in my busy life so I cannot hear him.  Chambers included part of this scripture in the devotional today. (I Kings 19:11-13)
¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

I've heard this scripture story ever since I was a little girl...but as usual there is something new to be learned from it. I just noticed the end of the passage where God asks, "What are you doing out here, Elijah?"; So often when we finally hear God we discover that we haven't really been in the right place. In Elijah's case it wasn't where he was standing (God told him where to stand), but where he was thinking.  Elijah was sure that he was the only follower of God left and that people were trying to kill him. Actually people were trying to kill him, but that was irrelevant because God had called him to a mission and He is in control.  In the very next sentence God tells him to go back home and continue the ministry He had given him.

I admit that I do not hear God very much these days...and I am trying to get back to knowing Him.

Chambers:
If you get out of the light, you become a sentimental Christian, and live only on your memories, and your testimony will have a hard metallic ring to it  .Beware of trying to cover up your present refusal to “walk in the light” by recalling your past experiences when you did “walk in the light.”  When-ever the Spirit gives you that sense of restraint, call a halt and make things right, or else you will go on quenching and grieving Him without even knowing it.

 Remember when I kept that devotional blog and was learning and hearing God and growing?  I've got to stop being sentimental and put my hand to the plow and look forward once again (Luke 9:62).


Chambers:
Never become attached to anything that continues to hurt God. For you to be free of it, God must be allowed to hurt whatever it may be.

I've become attached to complaining, looking at my situation in life and wanting more, thinking it's not fair that I'm not "getting ahead" at my age.  

Dear Lord, Help me to become free of these attachments so that I do not continue to hurt you. 

Photo by Ralf Roletschek via wikimedia commons.