SWHW Bible Reading Plan: December 2021Sample

Top Takeaway from Malinda Fuller:

Have you ever read a verse in the Bible and immediately felt God downloading something to you? What was your first response? Did you open a notebook and start scribbling notes? Maybe you've been in your devotion time or sitting in a worship service or prayer, and God starts speaking and revealing things to you, and your first response is to grab your phone and peck out paragraphs in your Notes app.

That is what John does for pages and pages as God gives him visions of the future. He writes about trumpets and scrolls and beasts that seem like they've popped out of a Tolkien or Rowling novel. And everything John hears, he writes down. But then, as we read in Chapter 10, something changes:

"And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down’" (Revelation 10:4).

Of everything that John saw in his visions, this is the only time that he is told, "Seal it up and don't write it down."

But why?

Why doesn't God want us to know?

What is He trying to hide from us?

That doesn't seem very trusting or loving.

Why could John hear it and no one else?

There will always be questions about why God does the things He does, just as when a small child doesn't understand why a loving parent says "no" to things. Just as we trust our parents, coaches, leaders, doctors, and professionals, we need to let go of the unrealistic expectation that God somehow "owes" us an explanation.

He doesn't.

God didn't have to reveal anything to John, but He did.

John didn't have to write down everything else he heard and saw, but he did.

And rather than write down whatever horrific things were revealed to him in the seven thunders, John obeys. He keeps it to himself. 

Do we do the same?

Are we quick to receive the revelation and then turn around and proclaim it to others?

Are we sometimes in a hurry to share instead of truly digest everything we've heard?

Do we stop to listen for God's voice or sit in the quiet and wait for further directions?

John continues: "And I was told, "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings" (Revelation 10:11).

In one moment, the command is to be quiet about what he had heard, and in the next, John is told to prophesy across borders, language barriers, and social classes. Same vision, different instructions.

John heard both directives.

And he obeyed both times.

In one instance, remaining silent, 

And in the other, proclaiming boldly. 

Are you listening for your specific instructions?

Father, thank You for continuing to speak to us today. You could have stopped with the apostles and early church fathers, but You didn't. You could have hidden more from us, but You didn't. Thank You for Your Word that is unchanging, full of mystery and beauty and life. May I have the same commitment as John, to obey, whatever You ask me to do, and the eagerness to listen for Your specific instructions. Would you please give me the courage to speak up when I'm supposed to and the humility to stay silent at other times? Amen.