It happened just as I was waking up. An audible voice inside of my head clearly said, “Follow the last instruction”. I wasn’t quite fully awake, and I wondered if I was still asleep, still dreaming, still dozing, as I listened to the still, small voice. Follow the last instruction? What did that mean? It made absolutely no sense because I didn’t even know what the first instruction was let alone the last! 

I didn’t tell anyone for a few days as I needed some answers. So, I prayed about it and the thought that kept coming up was to talk to my husband about it. So, I did. “Follow the last instruction? Well, what does that mean?” he said. “I don’t know” I responded. He was quiet for a moment. “Well, the only thing I can think of is what was the last instruction Jesus gave to His disciples?” Straight away I answered, “Of course! The Great Commission, go out into all the world and make disciples.” 

Bingo! 

God knew I had been wrestling with my fears, doubts and worries about all this writing business and it had sent me a little wobbly on His potter’s wheel. The “what ifs” were getting louder in my head and His voice was centring me again, getting me to focus on the promise and not on my circumstances, let me know that I was right where I was supposed to be. And for the reshaping and the reforming to continue I needed to hear from Him. “Follow the last instruction” was God giving me a commission, a mandate to keep going, to keep showing up. 

The Great Commission is found in Matthew 28:18-20, ‘Then Jesus came close to them and said, “All authority of the universe has been given to me. Now wherever you go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teach them to faithfully follow all that I have commanded you. And never forget that I am with you every day, even to the completion of this age.”   

This scripture was the last instruction Jesus gave to His disciples, but the key line in this verse is this, ‘Then Jesus came close to them and said.’ Jesus came alongside, He was beside the disciples when He gave the last instruction. What about you, dear friend? Are you close enough to Jesus so you can hear His instructions? Do you believe that you can hear from God? 

Bill Johnson believes that hearing from God is already in our design. Nobody is any more special when they hear from God because we all can if we choose to listen. God has designed for us to hear Him that’s why Bill says, “The enemy attempts to always lead us into unbelief because, in unbelief, we stand in defiance to His [God’s] nature and perfect faithfulness.” If we continue to lean in with anticipation to hearing God’s voice. If we choose to stay close to Him, then we’ll follow the last instruction which is “go make disciples”. 

The enemy knows he needs to create distance between us and God so we can’t hear God’s voice, so he fills our thoughts with fear and doubts that keep us running away from God instead of to Him. The great prophet, Elijah hid in a cave out of fear for his life in 1 Kings 19, but God found him and told him to stand on the mountainside in His presence. The voice of God wasn’t in the wind or the earthquake, or in the fire, it was in the breeze. ‘And through this breeze, a gentle, quiet voice entered into Elijah’s ears.’ 

How close are you to God right now? Close enough to hear His voice in the breeze? Don’t let fear keep you in the cave, take a walk up the mountainside like Elijah, and stand in God’s presence because He wants to speak to you, He wants to help you to follow the last instruction. Remember, God designed you to hear from Him, so get right in close and let Him know that you’re listening.

Wendy xo 

How does God communicate to you?

I pray today, that if you’ve run into a cave out of fear, you’ll gain the courage to start the climb up the mountainside and stand in God’s presence ready to hear his voice in the breeze.