“The Next Spiritual Journey” Day 4: Sometimes we can’t hear from the Lord because of disobedience to what He has already said.

“But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.””

‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭7‬:‭11‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I have heard some ridiculous statements made in my life. For example, I have been told by people who were involved in an extramarital affair, that every time they “came together,” they first prayed for the Lord to show them what to do about their relationship!

Friend, in a case where you are walking in blatant disobedience to what the Lord has already said, you can’t expect to hear any more direction until what you already know about what God requires, is satisfied.

In terms of the example given here, you don’t need to hear another word in such a situation. The word of God clearly prohibits sexual impurity of any sort. As a matter of fact, it seems that sexual sins possess a whole new level of ability to destroy the soul.

“Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭15‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It was spiritually tone-deaf for these people to expect that the Lord would give them direction in terms of their sinful relationship. Of course, the Lord is always open to the penitent soul and will actually help and strengthen those who want to do what is right; but that only comes AFTER true repentance.

Now, whereas, in the example of sexual impurity, it may be easy for us to see the contradiction in wanting to hear from the Lord regarding something about which he has already spoken so clearly. But perhaps it’s a little more difficult for us to see how our own “pet” acts of disobedience, affect our ability to hear further from the Lord. In fact, many times our becoming “stuck” is because of disobedience that must be remedied before we can move forward.

Our opening scripture has the Lord indicating that He will not hear the requests of His people who would not hear (would not obey) His voice. Interestingly, just before what is spoken in these verses, the Lord describes that the people He is referencing, wouldn’t obey the simple commands He had given them in terms of how to treat each other.

Sadly, some people who view themselves as being very spiritual, very “close” to the Lord, treat others terribly. Now, knowing the emphasis the Lord puts on the need for us to deal with each other out of the motivation of love, how could we expect the Lord to direct us, to bless us, when we are so clearly ignoring one of His prime directives? He won’t.

The bottom line here is: If we are experiencing some sort of feelings of being stuck, feelings of frustration with not being able to accomplish what we set out to accomplish, we must allow the Holy Spirit to examine us and illuminate where we may be disregarding what the Lord has already said. And if we already know where we’re walking in disobedience, we shouldn’t expect that the Lord is going to change his mind about what He requires.

Remember, the only one who has gone too far for the Lord to reach, for the Lord to help, is the one who refuses to come to Him and submit to His yoke.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!