In the Zone January 16, 2015

The Voice of the Nature of God 

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah 6:8 ESV

When we speak of the call of God, we are apt to forget the most important feature, viz., the nature of the One Who calls. There is the call of the sea, the call of the mountains, the call of the great ice barriers; but these calls are only heard by the few. The call is the expression of the nature from which it comes, and we can only record the call if the same nature is in us.

The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not of our nature. There are strands of the call of God providentially at work for us which we recognise and no one else does. It is the threading of God’s voice to us in some particular matter, and it is no use consulting anyone else about it. We have to keep that profound relationship between our souls and God. The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my affinities and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God. But when I am brought into relationship with God, I am in the condition Isaiah was in. Isaiah’s soul was so attuned to God by the tremendous crisis he had gone through that he recorded the call of God to his amazed soul. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.

Chambers, Oswald (2011-05-01). My Utmost for His Highest, Classic Edition (pp. 11-12). Discovery House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

As I was reading today's entry from My Utmost for His Highest, the phrase "zone of the call of God" stood out.  When I read that phrase I was reminded of an image showing the illumination area of a set of car headlights.

Only things in the shaded area will be seen by the driver of the car.  Deer, opossums, and skunks are only visible when they step unsuspectingly at the last moment into the area bathed in the LED output.

As Christians we are most likely to hear God when we are in the "zone of the call".  Is this to say that God cannot reach out to us and be heard when we are outside of the zone and in the dark?  By all means, "No."  As King Balshazzar would attest God can reach out to any of us at any time.  (See story in Daniel 5.)  However, as Christians, the more centered our lives are in the "zone of the call" the more likely we will hear God's voice.  All the spiritual disciplines of prayer, mediation, Bible Study, and fasting keep us in that zone.

When we spend time in the zone, that is when we start to hear God's voice on a consistent basis.  Zone time provides us the insight, strength, and wisdom to not just make it through life, but allows us to be more than conquers.  The power of God is found in the zone.  The peace of God is found in the zone.  The joy of God is found in the zone.  The strength of God is found in the zone.

God's zone is always there.  What do we do on a daily basis to place ourselves "in the zone"?