God Reveals His Thoughts
Do you want to know God’s thoughts?
Verse of the Day
“He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name.”
Today’s Devotional
I needed this verse today. And I can’t say that the book of Amos is normally hot on my radar. But as I was perusing scriptures on the topic of discernment, I came across this verse.
We are going to spend some time reading, studying, and praying about discernment. And I need to be honest from the beginning: I don’t think discernment is exactly what we want it to be. Maybe I’m wrong about that. But let’s explore it together.
Back to today’s verse.
Our world is in chaos. It always has been, but this fact has become more apparent to many of us over the last few years. It’s possible that it might get worse before it gets better. So it refreshes me to know that God formed this earth. He created the wind. He made the mountains. Everyday He makes the day turn to night and then back to day again. He is in charge of everything. Even a chaotic world.
My favorite part of this beautiful verse is that God reveals his thoughts to us. I want that to be true. But I’ll admit that I struggle with that. How does God reveal His thoughts to me?
One way God reveals his thoughts to me is through His Word. If I want to know what God thinks about something, I need to be reading my Bible. Often. As in, every single day. I think we need to pray before we read each day and ask God to help us to understand whatever He wants us to know. We need to pray that we are teachable. We need to pray for a willingness to be corrected when our thinking is wrong. According to Hebrews 4:12, the word of God is alive and powerful, which means that God can use the Bible to reveal new things to me every time I read it.
If I ask God each day to direct my understanding as I read the Bible, and I am humble enough to be teachable, I trust that He will reveal His thoughts to me. My guess is that this process will be excruciatingly slow. Because we, as humans, tend to be slow learners. And we can only digest small pieces of God’s truth at one time, because God’s ways are so much higher than our ways. In Luke 8:18, Jesus tells us to consider carefully how we listen. How can God reveal his thoughts to me if I’m not even listening?
I think it’s also worth noting that I only reveal my thoughts to other humans with whom I have a close, intimate relationship. Maybe God does the same thing. Maybe God does not begin to reveal His thoughts to us until we make Him a priority in our daily lives. Maybe a relationship with the creator God and Father comes before any kind of discernment.
I’m sure there are many more ways for God to reveal his thoughts to us. Perhaps he uses different methods for each of us. Something that might really be meaningful for you might not blip on my radar. And that is totally fine, because God made each of us unique, and his relationship with each of us is unique.
Personally, I am learning and practicing the discipline of silence in order to be more available to God. I really do want Him to reveal His truth to me, so quieting the noise of this world and my mind seems like a good place to start. And I freely admit that this is HARD for me.
There is beautiful truth, though, in mentally taking a step back from our own life and looking at the truth of verses like the one for today. God made it all. God is bigger and more powerful than all of it. And that same powerful God chooses YOU today. The Lord God Almighty is his name. So maybe before we really seek to discern something, we need to be clear on who God is, how powerful He is, and where any and all wisdom comes from.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How can you show God today that you trust and believe that the God you love is the Lord God Almighty, the creator and director of the world?
How has God revealed his thoughts to you in the past?
In what area of your life do you need Godly discernment today?
How teachable and correctable do you think you are?
How can you engage the Bible today?
How can you practice listening for God to reveal His thoughts to you?