You Never Know Who’s Hiding
By Dennis Love
McDowell County
I would say that the vast majority of us have read or heard what God says in 1 Samuel 15:22. However, not many of us take the time to really heed and follow through with what God is saying. Listen closely to what the Bible says in 1 Samuel 15:22; “So Samuel said; Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as He has in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed the voice of God than the fat of rams.”
I read a very interesting story about a man named Stephen Grellet. Stephen was a pioneer evangelist to the lumbermen in the Rocky Mountains. He felt the Spirit of God leading him to a particular lumber camp to preach. He obeyed the voice of the Lord and went. However, when he got there, the place was absolutely deserted. (Now right here is where most of us would have turned around and gone back home) But Stephen said; “Lord, I don’t understand, but I’m going to be obedient to your voice.” So, he opened up his Bible and preached a full-length sermon to absolutely nobody in that camp, or at least that is what he thought. Then after he preached, he pled for people to come to Christ for salvation. Imagine pleading for people to come to Christ for salvation when nobody is there! Years later, a man walked up to him in England and said, “I was the foreman at the lumber camp. I had come back to the camp to get an ax, and I heard you preaching. I stood behind a pile of lumber and listened. As you preached, my heart was warmed, and I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I later witnessed to four other men. Now, all five of us are missionaries preaching around the world.”
Obedience is better than sacrifice just as the Bible says in 1 Samuel 15:22. Do you know why we are not obeying God more than we are? It’s simply because we are not hearing what God is saying. We are simply not spending enough time listening to God. We pray and we ask, but seldom do we take the time to listen to what the Spirit of God wants to say to us. That’s why it is so important for us to have a quiet time with the Lord. It’s so important for us to get alone with God in a nook with His great book as we read it and listen to Him.
I remember driving up the road one day while on my way to a meeting when the Spirit of God spoke to my heart and impressed upon me to go and see a man who had never accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. I listened to the voice of the Spirit that day and made that visit. We talked about various things and we even talked about the church, but I didn’t pressure him to make a decision for Jesus that day. All I did was encourage him to come to church with his wife, and with his daughter. He started coming and one Sunday morning during the time of invitation, he stepped out from the pew he was in, and with tears in his eyes, and deep conviction in his heart, he invited Jesus to be his Lord and Savior. We had a lot of shouting and praising the Lord going on that day in the house of God!
So, even if it doesn’t make any sense at that precise moment. Even if it is in the middle of the night and the Spirit of God says to go and see someone. Obey the Spirit of God and God will do some great and awesome things in your life and the life of others. Just ask Stephen Grellet. You never know whose hiding and that’s something for all of us to really think about!
__________________________________________
Dr. Dennis Love is the Senior Pastor at Glenwood Baptist Church in Marion, NC. He and his wife Vicki have been married for 39 years. They have been in Marion for 5 years. They have two sons and three grandchildren. You can visit the Glenwood Baptist Church Facebook page or The Glenwood Baptist Church Website
You can read more good Christian News from Dennis HERE.
___________________________________________
