Corona Devo 746

Ever had an encounter where you felt like someone was "speaking your language"?  They understood you, or "where-you-were-coming-from", or they just "got" you? Maybe even in an unexplainable way?

Some Sunday's I feel as if the pastor is preaching only to me because the message/encouragement/conviction is so specific to me.  He's "speaking my language".  But that's not really the case--it is God that is "speaking" to me (through the message).

I would be blessed if this devotional ever "speaks your language" and the verses/sentiments/application/timing feel specific to you.  But it's not really my writings that are "speaking your language"--it is the Lord "speaking" to you through them.

Sometimes it's a person, a song, an event, or anything that "speaks our language" and strikes a chord in our heart/touches us personally/astonishes us in a way that we could have never orchestrated ourselves.  That's the Lord "speaking our language" and connecting us to Him through whatever means He chooses.

One day (not too long after Jesus had been crucified, was raised from the dead, and had then ascended into Heaven), a bunch of believers were meeting together in one place. (2) Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. (3) Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. (4) And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

(5) At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. (6) When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.  ~Acts 2:1-6

Sometimes we have experiences like the believers did on the day of Pentecost.  

Maybe not exactly (where we pick up a new language in a moment), but in-the-moment of a sermon/a person/a Bible verse/or someone explaining it to us--we experience the momentary-miracle of God "speaking our language" and touching us directly and intimately as only the Lord can do.

And once in a while, something exactly like what happened to the believers in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost can happen to us.  I just read a true story (Miracle on Voodoo Mountain: A Young Woman's Remarkable Story of Pushing Back the Darkness for the Children of Haiti) about an American girl who moved to Haiti to help children there, except she didn't speak the language of Haitians (Creole)...until she did "speak their language" one day.  In a dramatic moment when she needed to be-the-voice for a child in danger, she was (unexplainably) "able" to speak Creole. And from then on she was fluent.

I'm serious.

The believers there on that day of Pentecost were not the first or last to experience God's power in "speaking our language" or even in His divine ability to give us the ability to speak another's language.

At any time and through any means, God's Spirit can rush in like a mighty windstorm and fill us (Acts 1:2), just like it filled the house where they were sitting on the day of Pentecost. 

God can do anything and He has. And He will continue to for those who believe in Him.

But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”  ~Acts 2:13

Don't let the doubters steal the "awe" of God from us.

They won't understand the flood of peace that washes over us when we get quiet with God in prayer or reading His Word.

Unbelievers will scoff at our faith and the efforts and energies we spend in sharing the hope of Jesus with others.

Doubters will try and stop/ridicule/intimidate all the believers (from) meeting together in one place. (Acts 2:1).  

They will try to discount our faith and the awe/miracle/unexplainable deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, just as they did on the day of Pentecost.

But we can't be afraid to stand up for our beliefs and to trust that what we read in the Bible and have experienced in our hearts is true, even if doubters find it unbelievable or miraculous.

Peter stood up and spoke up.  We can too.  

Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. (15) These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that.  ~Acts 2:14-15

What we (and the believers at Pentecost) experience as Christ-followers is true, even if unexplainable sometimes.  If you've ever had a "faith experience" that you couldn't quite explain, then you know what I mean.  It can happen suddenly...like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and to believers and non-believers alike, sometimes faith can be perplexing (Acts 2:12).

But just because we can't explain it doesn't mean it isn't God "speaking our language" and meeting us where we are at today.

Whatever person/song/event/verse that "speaks our language" today and strikes a chord in our heart/touches us personally/astonishes us in a way that we could have never orchestrated ourselves---be open to the idea that it's the Lord "speaking our language" and connecting us to Him through whatever means (and language!) He chooses.

Blessings,

Sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com