Waiting for lightening

Gideon is a hero of mine.

Judges 8 tells his story and I have LOVED it since the days of my Picture Bible.

This basic, salt-of-the-earth man was visited by angels who told him God wanted him to start a battle against some guys who were trying to take over his country, and to glean some valuable lessons about faith along the way. Gideon, as one might expect, was a bit taken aback by this Godly proclamation in his otherwise unremarkable life (not to mention the shock of the angelic host stopping by for dinner - I think he may have been having lasagna) and not at all sure that he was hearing God correctly and/or if he was, that this whole "war" thing was something he could do in his wildest dreams.

Gideon: "You got the wrong man."

God: "Um, no. I'm pretty sure I'm looking for you."

Gideon: "Well, I am having a really hard time processing all this. If you are REALLY God and this is REALLY your command for me, I need some more evidence. Tell you what: I will put this piece of fleece on my lawn tonight. If it is wet in the morning and the lawn is dry, I'll know you mean business and that you are God and this is all very kosher, OK?"

In the morning, the piece of fleece was sopping, the lawn was crispy, and Gideon was still fretting.

Gideon: "God, please don't be mad, but I am still on the fence here. I am going to put this piece of fleece out here again tonight and if it is DRY this time, and the lawn is wet, THEN I will know that you are God and this is your will for me, and I will quit stalling, believe and hop to it."

Sure enough, nice dry fleece and soaked lawns greeted our hero the next morning.

Gideon's heart filled with newfound awareness and realization that God was CALLING HIM, directing him to deliberately use his talents toward a wild, amazing, remarkable end. And Gideon did go on to lead an army into a battle that he won, thereby seuring a destiny for an entire nation of people.

When God calls us, it is obviously wise to answer. See, God has this thing about not letting go. He's relentless about His promise to direct us in the ways that will give us a hope and a future - leading us torwards Him. Thus, it is even wiser (though less obvious at times) to listen to His whispers rather than needing to wait for lightening to strike before the faith in our hearts is ignited.

I regret that my own "Gideon-esque" tendencies do sometimes lead me to deny the rain, hail, and thunder, until lightening strikes and I realize, "hmm, maybe there is a storm out there after all."

Such is the case right now with my singing, my voice. Vocal music has always been my special gift from God that stands apart from all other gifts in my life. I know I am meant to use it specially, and I have in the past. But life gets in the way if you let it. I have, of late, heartily resisted listening to that still, small voice that has told me now that I am REQUIRED to use my voice and my singing as a blessing to others. I have responded to this in many ways, none of them with much degree of intellectual honesty, and none of them centered around a true sense of faith, of surrender, and of desire to do whatever it is God wants me to. Until now. I am finally getting the lightening bolts I have been waiting for.

Seven people in the last eight days - that's roughly one per day - have told me they have been blessed by my voice/singing/music and would I consider singing more/in this choir/doing this event/etc? SEVEN random people. In eight days. OK God, the fleece is awfully wet now. I am hearing you, finally.

I think I have flung my fleece on the lawn about a dozen times and the last time, it actually caught on fire and then danced around a bit. God was showing off, but His point was taken.

I am done waiting for lightening. Remembering Gideon, I will seek to listen for the early pangs of God's whispered voice in my life before it becomes a throbbing bellow of exasperated thunder.

So I need to be singing. Next step is figuring out how to make that happen, but I am determined now.

I heard the lightening.