Are there specific locations in which the Lord speaks more
than others?
On the
surface that seems like a stupid question.
We know that God is omnipresent.
He is all places at all times. So
naturally, he can speak in all places.
However, it seems that there are places where the Lord likes to reveal
himself over and over again.
In
Galatians 1:15-17 Paul states, “But when
God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, was
pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,
my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to
Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.”
What was so important about
Paul’s journey to Arabia? There is only
one other place in the entire New Testament that Arabia is even mentioned, and
it is also in the book of Galatians.
Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai
in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is
in slavery with her children. - Gal 4:25 NIV
While
Arabia is a large geographical area, Paul makes the connection of Mt. Sinai to
Arabia. What is significant about Mt.
Sinai? First of all, we know that the
law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. It
is the place where God talked to Moses.
It is the place where God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock while His
goodness passed before him. The next 40
years of Moses’ ministry were initiated from Mt. Sinai. The world was changed because of what
happened between God and Moses on Mt. Sinai.
Fast
forward several centuries to another prophet, Elijah.
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed
all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say,
"May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time
tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them." Elijah was
afraid and ran for his life. ..., He traveled forty days and forty nights until
he reached Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God.
There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD
came to him… - 1Kings 19:1-3, 8-9 NIV
Elijah had
just had an incredible encounter with God.
He had called fire down from heaven and had killed all the prophets of
Baal. But now Queen Jezebel had
threatened him, and he was afraid for his life.
So he fled on foot over 200 miles to Mt. Sinai. It was there that the Lord refreshed him and
spoke to him in the gentle whisper. God
had to get Elijah alone, quiet, and away from home so that he could speak new
direction into his life. It was from
there that Elijah was told who his successor would be.
This brings
us back to Paul. We know that Paul
(Saul) had been a very zealous persecutor of Christians, but then Jesus showed
up. In Acts chapter 9 we see that Paul
is miraculously converted, and although God tells Ananias of Paul’s mission to
the Gentiles we don’t see where Paul receives any revelation of His
calling. When Paul went to Arabia, I
believe that he specifically went to Mt. Sinai because he knew that he had to
get alone with God and learn to hear His voice.
What better place to hear God than to go where He had already spoken to
Moses and Elijah. It was at Mt. Sinai
that he received the call to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the
Gentiles. That is why he says that he did
not “consult any human being”, because he heard God speak to him directly.
How does
this apply to us today? We can’t make a
pilgrimage to Mt. Sinai every time we need to hear from God. We can, however, return to the place where we
first experience the touch of His Spirit. Even if we can’t return to the same geographic
location, we can recreate that prayer closet or altar experience. We can’t hear from God if we continually
surround ourselves with the noises and distractions of the world. We
have to find that one place where we can shut ourselves off from the world, get
quiet, and just listen for the voice of God.
He wants to
speak to you. He wants to give you fresh
vision and calling if you will only find a Mt. Sinai where you can go and be
alone with him. When you are at the end
of your rope like Elijah, when everything you’ve ever known is turned upside
down (like Paul), go back to your Mt. Sinai and let God set you on the path
that He has planned for you even from birth.
