IN THE ARK OF SAFETY

At times it is difficult to process all the voices trying to talk to us, trying to get our attention:

• The secular media are on us all day, every day, trying to catch our attention, trying to put their agenda across, trying to get us to listen. The political agendas of America have found their voices in sound bytes picked up by the secular media and pushed at us as news.

• Our friends, and some not-so-friendlies, are constantly “talking” to us by cell phone, e-mail and the newest phenom of Facebook, Twitter and other social network sites. The volume here has turned up considerably in the last couple of years.

• Our families are in touch, thankfully, some almost every day—and these are welcome voices.

• God is talking! Can we hear Him over the noise of the life going on around us?

The voices are constant and at times, for our own sanity, we need to shut the door and listen to the One Who really has the answers.

I found this to be especially true a couple of weeks ago when David Wilkerson published his message “An Urgent Word.” Carol and I read the printed message when it came out on Saturday, March 7, and I admit that while I was not surprised, I was a bit stunned as I read it. The very next day, to my total surprise, a summation of David’s article appeared on The Drudge Report (which gets up to 26 million hits a day) and then the voices really started chattering about the prophetic announcement.

From the local newspaper in Tyler, Texas, to a mention in The Wall Street Journal by columnist Peggy Noonan, to countless references on blog sites and Web sites across the globe, the voices began talking about David’s prophetic insight. Joining the fray, of course, are the so-called “protectors of the truth” like Hank Hanagraff, who takes every opportunity he can to knock down everyone who doesn’t believe as he does. (Note to Hank: You are probably not going to be happy with your neighbors in heaven!) One of the articles I read was written by noted Baptist pastor John Piper who did a very credible job of exegeting 1 Thessalonians 5:20 but then blew it all when he said that he felt David’s suggestion about laying in store a 30-day supply of non-perishable foods was “extra-biblical.” (Note to John: Your prejudice is showing and this made you look petty and silly.)

Finally I stopped reading the articles; I closed the door and listened for what the Lord was trying to say to me about all of this. God didn’t talk to me about the article right away; He went to other issues first. First, the Lord reminded me that I have known David Wilkerson as a friend for over forty years. I know he is a man of prayer and I know that God talks to him. I trust David Wilkerson; he is a man of integrity and he is a man of the Word. Also, he is a man with a proven track record of faithful ministry. David is also a man of courage who has been willing to speak out even when others didn’t like it, and that’s more than I can say for a lot of other pastors and leaders who give voice only to popular things, things the crowds want to hear.

The next thing the Lord had me do was go to Genesis and read again the story of Noah and the flood. I read about how God spoke to Noah and when he shared what he had heard, nobody believed him; they thought he was crazy. I realized the flood was a type of the judgment of God on the sin of the world. God had Noah prepare an ark to house his family and a remnant of all living creatures. The ark, I realized, was more than a physical structure. It was the result of Noah’s faith and obedience and these, too, are where our deliverance and safety lies.

(Genesis 7:17-18 NIV).“For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water”

Noah and his family were safe because Noah listened to God, stepped out in faith and followed His instructions to the letter.

Our ark of safety in the coming storm is constructed by our faith and obedience. Our ark will ride on the surface of the waters just as Noah’s did!

“Don’t ask God to guide your steps if you are not willing to move your feet” (author unknown).