God didn't speak to me today. In fact, I haven't had any outright "messages" from God for a long time. It's not that my faith has been too weak, if that were somehow possible. Nor is it the case I just wasn't praying hard enough. God simply has not had much of anything to say to me.
There are people in the Evangelical and Pentecostal realms that believe you can hear from God every day if you do this or that right. Joyce Meyer (a Pentecostal speaker) wrote a devotional called "Hearing from God Each Morning." We seem to yearn immensely that we may somehow hear from God. As a Lutheran, I don't believe God is in the process of speaking very much anymore. Everything he needed to say was finished when John penned Revelation. I'm not a full Cessationist, mind you. I do believe that God has intervened occasionally to speak to people and perform miracles. I think of St. Francis of Assisi and the stigmata. I've read about a Lutheran pastor who had a healing ministry, like something Pentecostals and Evangelicals so often wish they could have - and this pastor was from (I think) the 1800s!
Still, my experiences in the various churches I've attended seem to say that God has become quite hands-off in the time following the apostolic age. Once Jesus and the apostles died, God sort of handed off the church to humanity. In fact, I think that after the time of the apostles, God started using the corporate church as his means of interacting with the world.
Let's face it: most recoveries from illness and injury aren't miraculous. They are often caused by using proper medicine. And food doesn't just pop out of nowhere at dinner time. Rather, people grow food using the seasonal weathers. God works through humanity to meet our needs. Same with spiritual needs. How often does Jesus pop into view during a Sunday service and instruct us for an hour or so? Not often at all. Rather there is a pastor or priest, who is charged with instructing and preaching in the stead of Jesus. God is notably quiet during all these things.
I want to believe that God is intimately involved in everything that happens in the universe. That, for instance, God is continually pushing the tiniest of particles where they need to go, and if he were to stop pushing them for the slightest moment that all of reality would fall apart. But, for all I know, that might not be the case. It's possible that God designed the universe in such a way that the laws of physics would naturally appear as they do, and that stuff like magnetism or thermodynamics can function perfectly well without any divine interference. Meanwhile God steps back and lets us build up civilizations and societies, occasionally stepping in at a few key times. Sounds deistic, I know.
But perhaps there is a side that I'm not seeing, once which requires a bit more thinking (and perhaps faith) to see. It might be the case that God is orchestrating world events through means we don't understand. Permitting us to have free will while still having his goals accomplished. It could be that on the macro, national or international scale, God is pushing and prodding people and cultures to go certain ways. Maybe there are modern day miracle workers and prophets calling us in various directions. It might be that he still inspires us to do a certain act or speak on a specific topic, without us being aware of it at all.
There are people in the Evangelical and Pentecostal realms that believe you can hear from God every day if you do this or that right. Joyce Meyer (a Pentecostal speaker) wrote a devotional called "Hearing from God Each Morning." We seem to yearn immensely that we may somehow hear from God. As a Lutheran, I don't believe God is in the process of speaking very much anymore. Everything he needed to say was finished when John penned Revelation. I'm not a full Cessationist, mind you. I do believe that God has intervened occasionally to speak to people and perform miracles. I think of St. Francis of Assisi and the stigmata. I've read about a Lutheran pastor who had a healing ministry, like something Pentecostals and Evangelicals so often wish they could have - and this pastor was from (I think) the 1800s!
Still, my experiences in the various churches I've attended seem to say that God has become quite hands-off in the time following the apostolic age. Once Jesus and the apostles died, God sort of handed off the church to humanity. In fact, I think that after the time of the apostles, God started using the corporate church as his means of interacting with the world.
Let's face it: most recoveries from illness and injury aren't miraculous. They are often caused by using proper medicine. And food doesn't just pop out of nowhere at dinner time. Rather, people grow food using the seasonal weathers. God works through humanity to meet our needs. Same with spiritual needs. How often does Jesus pop into view during a Sunday service and instruct us for an hour or so? Not often at all. Rather there is a pastor or priest, who is charged with instructing and preaching in the stead of Jesus. God is notably quiet during all these things.
I want to believe that God is intimately involved in everything that happens in the universe. That, for instance, God is continually pushing the tiniest of particles where they need to go, and if he were to stop pushing them for the slightest moment that all of reality would fall apart. But, for all I know, that might not be the case. It's possible that God designed the universe in such a way that the laws of physics would naturally appear as they do, and that stuff like magnetism or thermodynamics can function perfectly well without any divine interference. Meanwhile God steps back and lets us build up civilizations and societies, occasionally stepping in at a few key times. Sounds deistic, I know.
But perhaps there is a side that I'm not seeing, once which requires a bit more thinking (and perhaps faith) to see. It might be the case that God is orchestrating world events through means we don't understand. Permitting us to have free will while still having his goals accomplished. It could be that on the macro, national or international scale, God is pushing and prodding people and cultures to go certain ways. Maybe there are modern day miracle workers and prophets calling us in various directions. It might be that he still inspires us to do a certain act or speak on a specific topic, without us being aware of it at all.
