NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN: 2 Corinthians 1-3
SCRIPTURE READING
Isaiah 55:9 (NIV); As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
So what happens when we have heard wrong? It is not uncommon, and it doesn’t make us
bad. Just because we have the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean the voice of God is suddenly crystal
clear. We need to think of God’s voice as a crackling old radio; it’s fuzzy and not always
clear, so we are bound to make mistakes.
Saul, later the Apostle Paul, thought that he was doing the will of God, going from town
to town persecuting followers of Jesus. He was not innocent in his misunderstanding. It
stemmed from pride and his actions broke God’s moral law. Sometimes our mishearing also
finds roots in pride.
Other times, we think we are hearing wrong because our eyes are stuck on our own plan,
when God is actually fulfilling His word in a way we are not expecting. When the prophet
Samuel entered Jesse’s house and stood before his seven strapping sons, he though they
looked promising, yet none of them were to be anointed king of Israel. It was the unexpected
shepherd boy, David, who was to assume the royal throne. God’s plan was a surprise to
Samuel.
And sometimes we hear a word or get a picture that really does just come from our
imaginations, and that’s ok. It shouldn’t scare us or keep us from listening to God, but it
should humble us to hold everything loosely. It should encourage us to regularly read God’s
Word so that we can hold everything we hear up against the sound foundation of Scripture.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Think of a time when you heard wrong. Ask God to speak to you through today’s
devotional. Was the mishearing a result of sin? Was it through your imagination? Or has God
actually fulfilled His word in His own way?
2. Ask God to grow you in humility. Ask Him to show you something active you can do today
that can help you in this.
3. Mediate on today’s verse and ask God to speak to you through it. How does He want to
apply it to your life today?
