I love how God speaks. He has a way of communicating that is able to touch directly my heart in such a way that it is undeniably Him and it is expressed in a way that I not only understand but also is wrapped in language that I get and it draws me into Him.

He is awesome.

Today,  I was reading a book called “Day by Day” by Peter Scazarro. It is a book to help form a spiritual discipline that rabbis have used for centuries. It is called The Daily Office. It is designed to tune your heart to the work of God. It is a tool to commune with Him, be with Him, and to come away with Him. The Daily Office is comprised of 5 simple components: Being still, Scripture reading, Devotional reading, a Question to consider, and Prayer. I have read through this book once and I am doing it again, finding new depths in its pages. This is definitely not a one and done kind of book!

Anyhow, the question today was “What do you think might be one of your “birthright” gifts from God that you have ignored in your life?” Great question! As I sat in His presence waiting for Him to answer, I hear the word “spontaneity” in my spirit. Now to me, at first thought, spontaneity is a form of randomness filled with a burst of energy to go somewhere or do something. Over the years I have become less spontaneous. As life has rolled on and I have learned to form schedules for work, home, school, and my son’s guitar lessons. I have become more organized. Less random. More routinized. At one point in my life, I was such a spontaneous person that after an unexpected phone call from my sister I sold all my stuff, bought a bus ticket, and left California for Iowa with $20 to my name. I can remember being a naturally spontaneous person. I loved the excitement and anticipation that comes from pop up wildness that catipulted me in a matter of days into a new life. I took the time to look up some things about spontaneity. On the global leadership foundation website, I read an article about the gift of spontaneity. It said, “Experience tells me that the gift of spontaneity lights up the hearts of others.” The psychologist Abraham Maslow suggested that spontaneity is a component of aliveness. It is a quality that emotionally healthy people employ in their daily lives. Spontaneity is definitely something that I have ignored lately. Instead I’ve been sucked into the busy life except for the occasionally 11 pm Friday night family donut run.

To me curiousity is a sister to spontaneity. As I continued to ponder, I sensed the Lord saying to me, “Don’t think so much about the upcoming to do’s or the “convenience” of being spontaneous. Just go!”  When I study or read a book I follow my natural spontaneity all the time jumping down rabbit holes and ending up in some exciting new place of understanding, knowledge, and fun facts. Here’s some:

Spontaneity means: Natural Impulse, Without Effort, and often means Unplanned. Breakdown the components of this word spontan/eous and we find the meaning of it is – composed of willingness.

I said out loud with my notebook, bible, and phone on my lap “What does that mean?” And again I heard the Lord say, “I am the God of suddenly’s.”

Suddenly means without warning. He is the God who comes without warning!

It sounds portentous, wild, and captivating. In Numbers 12:2-8 is a story of Aaron and Miriam opposing Moses. They are speaking against him saying,

 “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. ³ Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. ⁴ And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. ⁵ And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. ⁶ And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. ⁷ Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. ⁸ With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 

God heard these two talking about Moses and He shows up without warning and calls them out! Literally! He shows up in the form of a cloud and clarifies why He speaks through Moses. He says that Moses is faithful.

In Mark 9:2-8 Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain by themselves, He is transformed before their eyes, they see Moses and Elijah and want to set up tents for them:

⁷ And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”⁸ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

This moment happens without warning. They were just going up the mountain with Jesus and boom Jesus is bright and radiant. They see Moses and Elijah. They are terrified and want to make tents and worship them. Again God came in a cloud and spoke “Listen to my Son” and boom, just like that, only Jesus is there with them.

The story of Elijah also has “without warning” moments.

2 Kings 2:11 As they (Elijah and Elisha) were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

In other places in scripture, we see a sudden wind of Pentecost. When Jesus confronts Saul for persecuting the church there is sudden light. When Paul is in jail there came a sudden shaking and the doors open. God is the God who comes without warning. God is spontaneous and we are made in His image. Isn’t this life suppose to be an adventure? – Tweet that!

I am sure that the enemy of our souls has messed with what spontaneity is all about. As far as I can see it’s about having a willing heart to move with God. Spontaneity changes things. It is an unhindered response to a stimulus. It can bring quick moments of correction, changes in the atmosphere, it can empower, bring revelation through questions, and even freedom from the chains that hold us.

I love that God is also a God of promises. Hold on to this one:

Isaiah 1:18-20 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; ²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

And let’s make this one our prayer:

Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

 

When we follow God’s will coupled with our willingness to obey Him. It creates an adventure of spontaneity because He is the God of the sudden and without warning moments. While I was at a restaurant this afternoon with my sister in law, we were having lunch and I saw that the Lord was highlighting a server. He showing me some things and He asked me to speak some words to this man. I did and immediately the enemy came to tell me “I did that wrong and how silly I look” but I told him to back off since you can’t ever go wrong by obeying. As I left the restaurant the man said, “thank you for that.”

Are you ready for the adventure? We were built with natural spontaneity for a reason.

Thanks for Listening,

Starla