I was reading in my Bible and the story of Elijah, the
prophet, (found in 1 Kings). And I came to the part where God had told
Elijah to go and hide and then it said something very interesting, it said,
“And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the
ravens to feed thee there.” 1 Kings 17:4
Notice particularly that Lord said that He had commanded the
ravens. The new thought struck me, one that I had never even thought of before
and to me it was amazing! God communicates with animals, and there are many
instances in the Bible where it talks about such.
There are even stories that didn’t happen too long ago where
it talks about God using the animals to reach us human beings.
I believe that the reason why God communicates with the
animals is to send a message across to us, different messages, but sometimes
God has to communicate with us that way for us to listen and obey.
God’s message to Elijah was that no matter what would
happen, God would take care of him, and that he didn’t need to be worried or
afraid. God has given us the same message through the story of Elijah; we don’t
need to worry about the situations that we are in, because if necessary God
will command the birds in heaven to feed us.
There are other instances in the Bible where God spoke to
the animal; one of them is the story of Jonah.
When Jonah disobeyed God and went in the opposite direction.
The Lord sent a storm so violent that the men of the ship finally agreed to
throw him overboard. Well, once they did and Jonah was in the water and God
commanded a very great fish to swallow Jonah up.
God was showing mercy to Jonah, He communicated to the fish
to swallow Jonah up so that Jonah’s life could be preserved. Then three days
later God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah up on dry land and it just so
happened to be near the place where God wanted Jonah to go in the first place.
The animals are wiser than us in the fact that they listen
to the voice of God speaking to them the first time that He speaks to them.
There is another instance in the Bible where God spoke
through an animal. The story of Balaam and the donkey, Balaam was going in
direct opposition to the will of God. Balaam was offered a lot of money if he
would come and put a curse on the Israelites, and he agreed and went with the
messengers even after the Lord had told him not to go.
On the way, God sent an angel to stand in his way and to
slay him, but the donkey that Balaam was riding on sensed and knew, he maybe
even saw the angel standing in the pathway, and three times he avoided the
angel and the more he did it the more upset Balaam became.
So he struck at the donkey, the Bible then tells us the Lord
opened the voice of the donkey and the donkey was able to speak to Balaam and
tell him why he avoided the road three times.
God is able to speak to and through these animals and the
animals listen and obey their Creator’s voice. How much more should we as human
beings obey the voice of the Lord?
There are even stories nowadays that take place where God
speaks to the animals to do certain things and He has even let the animals
speak so His message will be heard and so we will listen and obey. It is sad to
think that we are so unwilling to listen and obey the voice of the Lord on our own,
but it also reveals the wonderful love of our heavenly Father, that He does not
give up on us but that He will, if He needs to, communicate with and through
the animals to get the message across to us.
Though sometimes it is to strengthen our faith and trust in
God, such as was the case with Elijah and in the case of all those out there
who have experienced the power of God through animals bringing them food
because they trusted in God and God supplied their needs.
I will close with a story that took place not so long ago,
about how the Lord spoke through an animal to give a very special message.
There was a man in a certain village; he was the local
pastor to his people. Well, to make a long story short, he heard about the
Sabbath somehow and heard that it was the right and true day to worship on. He
was confused however and didn’t know what he should do.
So not believing the things that were told to him, he went
out the next Saturday to work in his garden. And he and all his family were
with him, started on the little path that leads to their garden. They reached
the clearing, where there was a field and low and behold and much to their
surprise was their cattle all in a line, with the bull in the front.
All of a sudden the huge bull cow spoke up and asked the
pastor why he was going to go and work on the Lord’s Day, and the pastor much
to his great surprise answered back.
I can’t remember how the full conversation went, but I know
that the pastor and his family did not end up working in their garden that day,
and from then on they kept the true Sabbath day. And as for their cow, it never
spoke again; it didn’t have to, the pastor could speak to his village himself.
I think that it is amazing that God will work in our lives in
that way; He loves us so much and wants us to know about His truth and love
that He will use every means possible to get that message across to us. But
wouldn’t it be even better if we listened to Him the first time? I think it
would be! :)
Do you want God to communicate with you like He does the
animals? He will if you allow Him to and if you are willing to listen to and
obey His voice!
I want the Lord to communicate with me, don’t you?
