Psalm 71:17-18 - July 26, 2009

Ps 71:17-18 "Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. 18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come." NIV

These two verses capture the span of a life spent serving God; a reflection on the journey past, a testimony of God in the present and a prayer for the journey future. Imagine growing up with the Holy Spirit as your teacher. This is the psalmist’s journey past. This verse illustrates the reality that God is reaching for us even in our youth and if our hearts are open to Him He will instruct us in His ways even from the earliest years of our lives. Samuel was a boy when he first heard the voice of God, Josiah became king at 8 years old and was used to restore the nations spiritual health and Jesus was already confounding the priests in the temple as a 12 year old boy. Look back across the years of your life and if you are honest with yourself and thoughtful concerning your younger days you will see moments when understanding beyond your years touched your heart. God speaks in many ways; dreams, visions, impressions, the instruction of a friend or authority figure. What sets those moments apart is not the source but the light that comes inside of us. When God speaks it is deeper than just a transfer of knowledge. Truth touches our spirit and something changes inside of our emotional makeup because of that momentary encounter.
When a life has been touched by the voice of the Spirit of God in this transformational way it secures the sense of relationship with the Lord if we have truly recognized that it was the Lord talking and not simply a natural source or psychological phenomenon. As we distinguish that God has really been talking to us faith rises in our hearts and the comforting knowledge that God is with us and involved in our lives anchors us on a deeper level than ever before. Imagine the impact on the heart of the disciples who had been walking on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-32 when their eyes were opened to realize that the one who had been there instructing them in the scriptures was actually the Lord himself speaking to them. They knew that their hearts were burning from the words of the one who had been speaking to them but it was not until their eyes were opened that they realized that it was the Lord speaking. This is how it is when God is speaking to us today. The words of an individual, a dream a sudden flow of inspired thought, or some other form of communication burns in our hearts and moves us deeply but it is not until our eyes our opened that we realize that it has actually been the Lord talking to us through that means.
The more we live in this place and acknowledge these experiences for what they are the stronger our faith becomes and the result of a blossoming faith is a compelling need to tell others of the good things that God has done for you and said to you. This truth is expressed very clearly in the continuation of Luke 24. After Jesus disappears suddenly the disciples are so impacted by both His words and the experience of His presence that they immediately had to return to Jerusalem and testify to the other disciples of what God had done
for them.