So smart he won't even talk to you!

[rockytopva]

I am a Lab Technician and make it pretty good considering I only have two associate degrees. But I have met men so smart they won't even talk to you. When you ask them a question they just give you a strange look and keep on going.

That's the way God is. If you walk in disobedience he will simply quit talking to you and let you go your own direction in life. Take in instance the old King Saul. God would ask him to do something and he would do another. There were many occasions where Saul would seek the direction of God and God would simply not answer him...

And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. - 1 Samuel 14:37

But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. - 1 Samuel 16:14

And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. - 1 Samuel 28:5-6

In the Pentecostal Holiness church that I belong to it seemed like the Spirit of the God spoke all the time. There would be tongues and interpretations. And it was always fun to go to church as we did not know what God was going to do next.

When my generation came to age all of this went away. And then we had people trying to mentally teach people how to speak in tongues. Not discerning that this is a gift that comes in the sanctified heart first, the tongue last.

Pictured below is the elder that led me to Christ. He worked as a technician and farmed to. His wife would milk the cows and a dairy truck would come by and pick up the milk. It was an amazing thing to see how quickly he could get a hay baler up and running. He knew farm equipment inside out. He always gave glory to God claiming the Holy Spirit gave him that ability.

He would shout in church, shout at home, and shout in the hay field. Joy unspeakable and full of glory! When I went to the alter to pray he went behind me and I could feel tears spilling on my neck. The love and spirit this man manifested made a profound effect on my life! I hated to see that generation go! They were good people!

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

I'm having a hard time understanding your comparison between God and your supercilious lab technicians because my own experience with God and the way I see God work seems to be at conflict with what your claiming. God never stops speaking to people, bringing influences into their life, moving upon their hearts, and using time and circumstance to bring them to a different point of view. I believe that God meets us where we are, that he isn't somebody we have to climb a mountain to speak to like a wizened guru. Compounding this conflict is your citation of your Pentecostal Holiness church to buttress your point. I don't think that God speaks to people through performance oriented services laced with tongues, slain-in-the-spirit, holy laughter or any of the outlandish behaviors that characterize that kind of church. I think that a lot of what we think is God talking is human generated spirit and hubris. And if this seems offensive to you, you should know I have experience here, my own father being a Pentecostal pastor. It's part of what drove me toward the Catholic Church.

What I'm getting at, probably raising some blood pressure along the way, is that maybe it's not God who's stopped speaking. Maybe it's us who don't correctly perceive the way God speaks to us.

 

[Suhar]

I am a Lab Technician and make it pretty good considering I only have two associate degrees. But I have met men so smart they won't even talk to you. When you ask them a question they just give you a strange look and keep on going.

That's the way God is.

That sounds just downright blasphemous.

Those men are so proud of themselves that they do not even want to talk to you out of their pride.

Pride is the number one sin, foundation for all other sins. What are you accusing God of?

 

[rockytopva]

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:14

If people humble themselves and pray then there is hope to get God speaking again.

 

[williemac]

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:14

If people humble themselves and pray then there is hope to get God speaking again.

This was a pre-Calvary promise. There are differences in this covenant. Yes, humility is and always has been the main priority of God for His creation. He gives grace to the humble. We are now told to come boldly before the throne of grace to find grace to help in time of need.

To whomever: Why this obsession with hearing or not hearing from God on the basis of our performance? Even Satan, a fallen angel, liar, and sinner, walked right into the throne room and had a conversation with God about Job. God never even flinched at his presence. I marvel at the suggestion that God is so holy that He cannot look at sin, or won't talk to sinners. It is actually the other way around. It is sinners who hide from God. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Jesus came to show us the Father and low and behold, He befriended the lowly and the sinner. He will give grace to all who humbly seek it. But He Himself is the initiating seeker. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses against them.

The price was paid by His Son. We do not need to clean up first to come to Him. Much of the world at large hears otherwise. Many have told me that they do not go to church because (tongue in cheek), God might smite them. The gospel is not where they get this idea. When they encounter a Christian, do they feel God's love for them or indignation? Just saying....

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

This was a pre-Calvary promise. There are differences in this covenant. Yes, humility is and always has been the main priority of God for His creation. He gives grace to the humble. We are now told to come boldly before the throne of grace to find grace to help in time of need.

To whomever: Why this obsession with hearing or not hearing from God on the basis of our performance? Even Satan, a fallen angel, liar, and sinner, walked right into the throne room and had a conversation with God about Job. God never even flinched at his presence. I marvel at the suggestion that God is so holy that He cannot look at sin, or won't talk to sinners. It is actually the other way around. It is sinners who hide from God. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Jesus came to show us the Father and low and behold, He befriended the lowly and the sinner. He will give grace to all who humbly seek it. But He Himself is the initiating seeker. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses against them.

The price was paid by His Son. We do not need to clean up first to come to Him. Much of the world at large hears otherwise. Many have told me that they do not go to church because (tongue in cheek), God might smite them. The gospel is not where they get this idea. When they encounter a Christian, do they feel God's love for them or indignation? Just saying....

I nominate this post to be the best response. God's silence was broken forever with the birth of Christ and Old Testament strictures do not apply.

 

[horsecamp]

rockytop va

any one can hear God speak to them by reading there bible ...

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

rocky .... I like your OP (thank you)
But I also agree with a lot of what Vale said

But never mind that .... do you know why those "Lab workers" sometimes remain silent .... often it is because they are scared sittless to reveal they do not know the answer to your question . It exposes their insecurity . They prefer to hide behind their honors degree diploma

I have a very good (Christian) friend who is a talented engineer , sometimes even genius , he has done a lot of good mechanical automotive designing and engineering .

He drives only Volvo Sedans but he loves exotic sports cars and is always showing me pictures and talking about them.

My sister and her husband have a Ferrari Modena 360 and I arranged for him to take it for a drive when he visited Calgary .... when I told him about it I expected he would be the happiest guy in Canada ...... but all I got in response was a blank stare and he walked away without saying a word. I was wondering what I said to offend him.

Turns out he cannot drive a stick shift car. ... only automatic transmissions. His wife secretly told me that .... the guy was terrified if anyone would find out.

So rocky your co-worker could be very talented in some areas , yet unable to answer some simple questions .... you never know .... or he could just be a jerk ... some folks are like that too.

thanks again for your OP .... love those good stories about the good people

 

[lforrest]

The smartest man I know, is also one of the most humble... Guess who that is








It isn't me

Seriously,
I find wisdom has very little to do with intelligence, so I can't really draw a comparison between a smug Intellectual and God. I believe that the lord being as wise as he is, knows when to put the pressure on people and when to let them go. He loves them enough to let them go, so they may possibly find some measure of happiness in their temporal lives


It may be a totally separate issue when the Presence of God is no longer evident in a Church. One I think better answered by someone with more experience in Pentecostal Churches.