Cutter

Chapter 15 - The Story

I was sitting in a service at another church once, when one of the speakers stepped off of the stage, and exited the worship center.  Another speaker got up to begin speaking, and we realized there was an entirely different conversation happening that we all could hear, but no one could see.  As the voices wafted through the worship center and the church giggles started to spread, the current speaker stood awkwardly until an usher exited the worship center, and you could hear an audible "oh...OH NO!" over the sound system.

The poor speaker had walked out and never turned his headset mic off.  We heard him warmly greet people, ask the senior pastor how he was doing, and how the kids were.  We assumed he was shaking hands and waving.  The sound guys had assumed he would know what to do.  He had assumed he was ok.  What was awesome about the whole thing, is that we realized the speaker was awesome off stage as he was on stage.  He was a really warm friendly guy.

But we were all glad he was stopped before he made it to the bathroom.  No doubt.  God bless that usher.

That story struck me reading chapter 15.  I'm awed by the fire coming down and consuming the water and sacrifice.  I'm thunderstruck by the courageousness of Elijah.  And, because of my temperament, I'm GREATLY amused by his taunting of the Baal prophets..."maybe your god is asleep?  maybe in the restroom???"

What grieves me is that the Baal prophets didn't know if their god even heard them.  Wails and pleading turned into cutting and begging.  It struck me that this frantic wonderment forced them to injure themselves just in the hope that their god would pay any attention to them.

I think of the epidemic today of many young people who feel that they have no voice for their pain and cut themselves to relieve that horrible tension.  They too cut to be heard.

What I'm grateful for is the God who Hears.  Jehovah Shaw Mah'.

And he's not just the God who Hears.  Psalm 69:33 (AMP) says, "For the Lord hears the poor and needy and despises not His prisoners (His miserable and wounded ones)."

Jehovah Shaw Mah', especially to the wounded and miserable.

Much like the mic'd speaker, God hears everything.  EVERYTHING.  The thoughts of your heart before you speak them.  The angry words.  The frustrated words.  The broken words.  The happy words.

Let me say it again.  He hears EVERYTHING.

Without us begging.  Without us cutting.  Without us imploding over the great burden we bear in our souls.  He's already heard that.  With the effortlessness of a sound system that never gets turned off, he hears us.

He heard Elijah.  He heard the Psalmist.  He hears the prisoners.  He hears the wounded and miserable ones.  Jehovah Shaw Mah'.  He hears you.