Why God is Deaf!

“Why doesn’t God (if there is a God) do something? The world is in a mess and He sits on His throne somewhere watching. Can’t He hear the cries of people in pain? Isn’t He unmoved by domestic abuse? When was the last time He ‘zapped’ someone for paedophilia? So people wave an accusative finger and hostile words towards Heaven.

However, could it be that the reverse is the actual fact? God has spoken! It is we (or many of us) who are deaf, or at best, we exercise selective hearing.

God as Creator has spoken to this world through His artistry in the sky. The hearing impaired claim it is a chance thing. Such an attitude puts ‘plugs’ in the ears of the soul when God has a word to say. What may that have been? Judgement in the form of a worldwide flood is coming. Self-indulgent perverted and violent relationships drowned out the warnings. It also made them ‘blind’ to an escape plan from the flood. Noah’s Ark was the Judge of the whole Worlds’ act of mercy. Only eight (8) grasped it, went into the ark and rode out the judgement.

Time after time the Lord God Almighty has spoken until (with respect) He lost His voice. He has spoken in sign language through the religious system of sacrifice in the Jewish worship. The sophisticated people of today would call it animal cruelty and fail to discern the significance of substitution and the penalty of death. Through specially selected men and women the Lord recorded His plans, pleasure, promises, punishment and power. It wasn’t illiteracy which prevented the words being read. It wasn’t then and isn’t now. The underlying reason for not at least perusing the Bible is so a person can claim innocent through ignorance. That hasn’t a chance of holding up before the Great White Throne of Judgement. Ignorance is fed by self-righteousness which sets its own rules and demotes what God has recorded as so out of date with today’s wisdom.

In one final ‘shout or scream’ the Father in Heaven summed up all He could say by commissioning His only Son Jesus to be the final Word! He spoke and people liked what He said, when it was served with bread and fish. When Jesus mentioned righteousness and truth, honouring the Father and caring for others selective hearing took over. Jesus became a bore to the hierarchy, a threat to the tyranny of Rome whilst the people became upset because He didn’t meet their expectations. So, they crucified Him. That was mean to stop the Voice of God. That was so they could still curse The Father in Heaven for being a ‘do nothing God.’ It backfired! God the Father’s voice in His Son Jesus became even louder. Three days after the crucifixion came the background music of an earthquake which has shaken the spiritually and morally deaf, the blind, the mute, the ignorant, ever since. “He is risen!” “He is Lord!” Hear Him!”

God has sounded out, spelt out, signed out His intentions. He has informed us now and once for all His offer of redemption, forgiveness, relationship behaviour and morality based upon His righteousness and word. Society, family and relationships are paying the price of thinking they know better. There is still an opportunity to change for the better. That requires an openness of the ear, the heart, the mind and the will to know and do what God has already said. Not to heed His word is to invite into our realms moral confusion, the tyranny of the perverse and the desperation of the hopeless. God has spoken to us! His final word is summed up in the Christ of Calvary. Hear ye Him!

Ray Hawkins July 23rd 2017.

The Marriage Dance

Our wedding day 1964

The beauty of marriage is under a concerted ‘acid attack’ designed to deface it by degrading its image and meaning. The Christian view of the mystery and majesty underlining this union of a man and woman has suffered under a barrage of Humanistic attacks. Such a philosophy of life has no room for the spiritual dimension nor for defending what is termed sacred and moral boundaries. Applied to marriage this allows such people to consider same sex relationships, multiple partners and polygamy as valid marriages.

 The only place, and I‘ll write it again, the only place to gain an understanding of marriage is in the Judeo–Christian Bible. Only there will you find its institution with the wonder of its meaning, majesty and mystery. For such a relation didn’t evolve but was God given to men and women through Adam and Eve. Read Genesis chapter 2 for the beginning, Ephesians 5:21-33 for its mystery.

When a man and a woman enter into a marital union they more often than not are ignorant of what underlies such a unique and beautiful oneness. This is a shame if it is never discovered. However in the beginning of becoming husband and wife the intent is to enjoy the rhythm of the wedding dance. This dance of a loving relationship has many steps, different music moods and takes place on various ‘dance-floors’. It takes time and effort, grace and forgiveness, perseverance and laughter.

 I remember as a teenager plucking up the courage to go and learn ballroom dancing. At first it felt awkward. I was nervous, reticent and clumsy. My teacher endured many a sore toe and scrapped shin before I became reasonably proficient in a variety of dances. When I married I began an unending dance. My wife and I were beginners. We did have some good teachers on the ‘sidelines’ encouraging us but it was up to us to learn the steps and sense the rhythm of the dance being ‘played’ at that time. Sore toes or should I say hurt egos that caused concerns. These came about due to each wanting to swing and sway to his or her own tune. This made us want to do our own ‘steps’ resulting in a wrestling match instead of a loving tango. However, we knew ours was an unending dance. Therefore we set our hearts to practice. Perhaps one of the hardest things was to hear the same melody and sway to the same beat. It’s easy to embrace in the dance. It’s another things to maintain the embrace in the movement of life.

 Factors that kept us dancing, even when we had our egos stepped upon or something interrupted the music was the grace of mercy and forgiveness. There was also the healing qualities of communicating, even is hesitantly of what was causing us to be ‘tripped.’ Such sharing requires trust and tenderness and at the same time a willingness to learn from it. Other features in the dance routine of life include the serious and intense as well as the fun provoking jigs mixed with the passion of the waltz and tango. Many of the modern dances portray individuals shaking and shimmering, but not reaching out to the other and learning to co-ordinate their movements. Seems like a modern day metaphor for how people view marriage.

 God intended marriage to be on the ‘dance floor’ of everyday living. Husbands and wives were to feel the rhythm of God’s music in the midst of earth’s cacophony. They were meant to know that the skill in marriage comes though faithfulness and persistence in understanding and appreciating each other. The more time you dance together, the closer you grow together. The closer you are the sweeter the dance. The sweeter the dance the more varied the steps. The more varied the steps the more exhilarating the embrace. The more exhilarating the embrace the more wonderful the music that plays for you to dance.

 For that to be true, God must be the Dance master as well as the Orchestra leader. I have to admit, I like to dance with my wife to the music of the Eternal God on the dance floor of the everyday life. We have been in the dance for fifty years now. While the vigour of the early days may be pleasant memories the vitality of our senior years in the marriage dance is stronger and more meaningful. This is because we discovered the mystery, the meaning and the majesty of marriage. It has kept us dancing together across life’s varied ‘dance floors’.

© Ray Hawkins

For an insight into the three ‘M’s of marriage you could read my 31 day devotional book ‘From Eden with Love.’ Published by Even Before Publishing’ and available in Christian bookshops and Amazon. It is also an Ebook.