The Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul. (1 Samuel 16:14, NIV)
Speaking the truth is part of God’s loyalty to you. God never allows his children to walk in disobedience. However disturbing it is, he will bring us to our senses. God’s sheep hear his voice.
Imagine having three separate alarm clocks. The first one wakes you up to soft music. It’s quite gentle. But it’s easy to go back to sleep. All you have to do is hit the snooze button.
God uses three alarm clocks to wake us up to our sins. The first one is gentle – the work of the Holy Spirit (through the Word) in your conscience. But some of us have switched that one off. We are not in the Word, and we can’t remember the last time we examined our spiritual lives.
When that happens, don’t be surprised if God sets off his second alarm clock. If God sends someone who cares about you to speak the truth to you, you should be profoundly thankful. What would happen without this second alarm? Think about what happened to Cain and Saul, and then think about what happened to David.
Nothing could be more foolish than to resist the Holy Spirit when he speaks to you about your sin.
God usually uses someone he has placed near you who cares for you – your mother or father, your husband or wife. He may use a Christian friend, an accountability partner, or a pastor. But if someone who cares about you speaks to you, listen. Don’t get angry. Don’t walk away. Better that you lose face than that you should lose the blessing of God.
If a person ignores God’s second alarm, his or her situation becomes perilous. That’s what happened to Saul. Instead of humbling himself and seeking the mercy of God, he continued down his reckless path, and God allowed him to be overrun by the Philistines.
The man or woman who sleeps through the first two alarms is in big trouble! All that’s left after this is the judgment of God. That’s why it is so important to learn to respond to God’s first alarm.
For some, God is ringing the first alarm right now. As you hear the Word, the Holy Spirit is speaking about an area of sin in your life that needs to be dealt with. Will you do it? Or are you going to shut off the alarm? Don’t do that.
Some of us have gotten so used to hitting the snooze button that every time an alarm goes off, we hit the snooze button and we don’t listen any more. We don’t listen to God’s Word, and we don’t listen to the people that God has so graciously placed around us.
Nothing could be more foolish than to resist the Holy Spirit when he speaks to you about your sin. God is reaching out to you in the gentlest of ways. This is always disturbing, but the work of the Holy Spirit is a wonderful expression of God’s grace.
Is God speaking the truth to you right now? Identify the sin. Don’t minimize it. Confess it to God (and others, if necessary). Make restitution where possible.
