One of the hardest things about confirmation is waiting for God to confirm His word or direction. All too often we want to run with the idea and plan or share the word we received. Confirmation requires waiting. It also requires that you don’t put God in a box.
God’s ways are not our ways. The universe is His and He can and will use it to speak to His children in any way He chooses. I have said it before, the natural becomes supernatural in the hands of the Living God.
Make sure that you are open to receive God’s confirmation in ways you have not yet experience.
We can learn a lesson in openness to receive from the prophet Elijah in His encounter with God in 1 Kings 19:11-12
So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
Here are three ways that Elijah showed that he was willing to actively listen for the Lord to speak.
First, He put himself in a physical place to hear the Lord. He obeyed the Lord when told to go to the mountain. Is the Lord asking you to sit with Him in the morning or evening? Is He asking you to carve time out of your schedule to be with Him?
Second, Elijah knew the Lord well enough to know that He wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. These were ways the Lord had “spoken” in the past. Elijah was open to a new way of experiencing God.
Finally, Elijah quieted himself and made himself available to hear. Elijah met the Lord in the sound of a gentle blowing, or some translations say a “gentle whisper” or a “ still small voice.”
You will not hear God’s confirmation if you are always the one doing the talking. All too often we spend our quiet time in study and intercession but never quiet our mind to sit and hear the gentle whisper of Holy Spirit.
God may be using a new language to confirm His word to you.
Do not put God in a box and expect Him to speak to you the way He did yesterday. Listen actively by putting yourself in a position to receive, know the Lord well enough to know when He’s speaking, and finally quiet your thoughts so that you can hear even the gentlest of whispers. If you follow Elijah’s example you will be certain when the Lord confirms His word to you.
Once confirmed, you will be free to move ahead with the direction God gives.
That’s good news!