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Have We Made God Deaf?

Monday, August 27, 2007 6:52 PM

Several years ago when our good friends were dealing with a pregnancy that medically would not end well. I often questioned God and his providence as he ignored our cries for a miracle that would changed the verdict of this medical reality. I trust God and his providence, but still the scars cut deep as I mourned with my friend because of God's refusal to intervene.

This week I rejoiced with my friends Benny and Niki as God provided an amazing miracle in healing their son. These friends son, have dealt with a crippling milk allergy that has caused him to live in fear of the consequences of food. I wept as I shared in their joy. My heart swelled as I considered the possibility of a life without Celiac.

Still the old wounds creep to the surface, and the old scars hurt deep as the barometer of my heart leans toward hope in the news of my friend's child. Academically, I absolutely believe in the power of miracles. Practically, I challenge God why he chooses to heal a milk allergy, and leave another child to be born still.

As I was struggling with these conflicting feelings toward God, I ran across this verse in my daily study.

Proverbs 21:13
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,
he too will cry out and not be answered.

I must admit, I "heard" nothing else that chapter contained. My eyes continued reading, but my heart, my mind, and my spirit stopped right there at verse 13. I found myself unable to think about anything else. I have found myself unable to move on in my thoughts for the six days since I first read that passage.

The question that keeps recurring over and over in my head is, "Have we made God deaf?" The miracles of the first years of the church are AMAZING. They stand as AWESOME praise to God. Yet, that power, that presence of God's power seems to be unfound in our world. I am left to wonder, "Where did God's power go?"

Then I hear the amazing miracle of my friends who have surrender the comfort and convenience of many career paths available to them, and instead chosen to serve as missionaries among the homeless teenagers in Boulder. The have given up the hope of the American dream, for the hope of rescuing teens struggling with physical, emotional, and spiritual addictions through the redemption of Christ blood. They have not been building the Nowell kingdom in the suburbs, instead they have been building Christ kingdoms in the dark places of American's urban refuse.

Perhaps God's power isn't present in his people like it was in the early church, because his people are present in the places where his power has always dwelt; with the helpless, the hopeless, the rejects.

I want to be where God's power is.

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Comments to this post:

Blogger Niki - 9:30 PM
Kevin, I love you. I know that you love us and are behind us in our ministry efforts. But my friend, reading your words here, reading how you feel about the Kingdom work we're doing, you seeing the sacrifices we make to do what we do...that makes me cry. It's so easy to "be strong" and tell people "We're fine...everything is o.k." and yet feel fear at the lack of our financial support or the unknowns of the lives we're connecting with on the streets, or the lack of communication with those on our support team. We feel fear but we press on anyway. We fight the paralyzation we feel on occasion, and we fight the apathy that permeates our society. Just knowing you "see" us is such an encouragement to me. Thank you so much for this post!

God is not deaf...we are. We have forgotten what His voice sounds like because somehow we believed that He wasn't speaking any more. That the Bible was His final word. That's WRONG. He is THE LIVING WORD and He speaks today.

I don't understand why He heals some and not others. It's part of the mystery. I will believe Him even if he choses not to heal the rest of Pete's allergies. I will believe Him if He does. Honestly I would be more grateful for the healing, but I serve Him regardless...As I know you do. I want healing for you too my friend.

I thank you again and I'd like to talk with you more about this post.  

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