Do We Really Want A Word From God?

Christians will often say that they want to hear from God.  I want to ask them, “Do you really?”  

Most of the time, I think these Christians are well-meaning, but I don't think they have thought through what they are saying.  The God of the Bible is not some cute god that you keep in your back pocket until you need something - the sort of god who is interested in nothing more than helping you have your best life now.  

The Christian God is the Creator of the entire Universe who came as a man to tell man how to live correctly and decided the best way to leave this world was death by torture.  And, let us not forget, the one who died on the cross was the same one who said “Take up your cross and follow me.”  

Taking up your cross is the standard.  Do you really want to raise the stakes?   

Let me be clear.  I don’t think that asking for this super-difficult path is bad; I think it is quite good.  But, I want to make sure that people actually understand what they are asking for when they say they want “a word from God.”  

Consider Jesus’ mother, Mary.  She got a word from God - sent through the angel Gabriel, no less.  She was told that she was going to give birth to the Messiah, which was the hope of every young Jewish girl.  How did that work out for her?  

When Mary was found to be pregnant and told her family and friends that the baby was from God, do you really think they believed her?  Yeah, right.  

In truth, she probably spent most of her life being called a whore, and Jesus probably grew up known as the bastard son of a whore.  I’m sure that this language offends some of you, but what do you think actually happened?  If people didn't buy her story, then they probably thought she had been sleeping around while engaged and then lied by saying that the baby was from God.  I think that there would probably have been at least a few people who were less than kind to her.  

Remember, it all started for Mary when she got "a word from God."

Let's skip forward 30 years to when Jesus started His public ministry.  Mary probably thought things would turn around finally, but Jesus (of course) didn’t do what anyone expected Him to do.  He was so far off everyone’s expectations, His family (probably including Mary) thought He had lost His mind.  (Mark 3.21, 31-35).  

How do you think she felt then?  It would have only gotten worse when Jesus was crucified, because as everyone knows, Messiahs don't get crucified.  Obviously, she was wrong about everything and had wasted her life.  

It would not have been until Mary saw Jesus risen from the dead that it all would have made sense to her.  So, in the end, her path eventually made sense to her, and it was certainly quite special.  However, her life was also really hard.  Most likely, she would not have been able to survive had she not received “a word from God.”  

When you are asking for a word from God, you are asking to be set on a really hard path.  

I don’t think God is just going to give people a word just because it would be cool.  There would need to be a reason.  So, Christians, you need to ask yourself if you really want the life that “a word from God” implies. 

If you receive a word from God, it might be because you would not be able to survive your path without it.  So, do you still want a word from God?