Sound Waves Travel

Whether by land, sea, or air, sound creates a vibration that can be heard and felt. A vibration that communicates. We know this in the natural, but the same is true in the spiritual. The question is, can we hear them? Can we feel them? God is always speaking, but do we know what He is saying? The kingdom of heaven is active. It’s ever advancing and moving, there’s all kinds of activity going on all around us, but do we recognize or perceive this activity enough to know what’s going on? As I tuned in to what was stirring in my spirit this afternoon, I instantly got a picture in my mind’s eye. I want to share with you what I saw:At first, I saw a man, at a time that appeared to be hundreds of years ago. He had the ability to put his ear to the ground, listen for the vibrations, and interpret with great skill what (or who) was coming. I then saw the ocean, with it’s infinite number of creatures, also, having the ability to hear and perceive. Lastly, I saw birds, picking up on sounds that for most of us, would be undetected.

I then wondered, how would most of us function – spiritually speaking – if we were stripped away of all our modern conveniences and comforts and were forced to rely upon the spiritual senses we have developed? Ecclesiastes 5:15 reminds us that we brought nothing into this world and when we die, we will take nothing with us. Moses reminds us in Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days, the brevity of life, that we may grow in wisdom.” I believe then, a question worth asking, while we’re yet alive, is, “If all else were to be stripped away right now, what would we see and how would we operate?”

As the leaves begin to fall to the ground, and the trees begin to thin out, I sense a parallel season of stripping away in the spiritual. A stripping away – not so much in a negative sense – but that of “exfoliating”, if I may, of many of the things that have been good and served us well in past seasons, but that if held on to for too long can keep us from developing our spiritual senses and/or sharpening them.

Hebrews 5:14 reminds us that our spiritual senses can only be trained by constant use. Senses are sharpened and strengthened by movement. We keep our senses sharp not by knowing how to respond to the same repetitive actions over and over, but by having to respond to changing movement. Having sharp senses requires alertness. Awareness. Attentiveness. Awakenedness. (I know, not really a word, but I hope you can hear and see the picture I’m trying to paint.)

When we go through life doing the same things over and over – praying the same way, worshipping the same way (and to the same songs), sitting in the exact same seat in church week after week, reading the same way, drawing from the same source and “drinking from the same well” – those things are all of course, in and of themselves good. But senses (both natural and spiritual) have a way of acclimating. Think about it. When we smell the same thing day after day, we get to the point where we don’t even smell it anymore. When we see the same things in the same spot day after day, we don’t even see them anymore. When we hear, for example, the same worship songs, over and over we can get to the point where we sing the words on “auto-pilot” and the words we are singing lose their meaning. When we eat the same meals, day after day, and/or drink the same drink, even if they’re a favorite, we lose interest and become bored as our taste acclimates.

I believe we are entering a time right now where we’re going to see things start to move. What we have “reached for” in the past will not work for us in the same way it did before. Our auto-replies and auto-responses are no longer going to work in the same way they have. We’re going to need freshness. Eyes to see and ears to hear. Senses that are alert and ready and awake. And it may feel uncomfortable or awkward at first. Kind of like the way it does when you move furniture around in a room or completely reorganize your kitchen or bathroom or closet, and you suddenly don’t know where everything’s at anymore. But this – this is for a divine purpose. It is not to frustrate us or so that we can start doubting where God is or what we’ve done wrong. No. This is for the purpose of training, honing, and sharpening our spiritual senses. Making sure that we remain alert, awake and ready.

Why?

Because there’s more. I will leave it up to you to seek God and ask what that more is for you. As I feel led, I will share what I hear heaven saying, if He chooses for me to. But all I feel led to share with you, dear one, is to be ready. Embrace this season of “exfoliating”. Be a willing vessel that even chooses to change things up yourself as you lean into this process. Do what you can to aid in your alertness. Listen for the voice of the Spirit. Tune in and pickup on the vibrations, and “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask” (James 1:5) knowing confidently that He never turns away.

Forever His,

Linda G. Riddle