For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10,11 ESV

The grace and mercy of God never cease to amaze me. Each of us has pivotal moments in our lives when the Lord intervened, and the proclamation of His gospel went forth and pierced the heart of stone within. I was recently engaged in a conversation regarding my time in the hyper charismatic movement, and after listening to some of the things discussed, one of the individuals asked me a fair and important question. He wanted to know how I could have spent so many years under such teaching and in one moment, I suddenly began to question.

Immediately, my response could not boast in myself, but in the power of the Holy Spirit to open my ears to hear the truth, even in the preaching of misappropriated Scripture. You see, it was only by the grace and mercy of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit I began to question and to search the Scriptures after being entrenched in specific beliefs for almost two decades. It was only by the grace and mercy of God I was granted repentance for my sin and blasphemy against Him. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. I deserved not one ounce of mercy, yet He was merciful. It was only by the Holy Spirit that I heard error and searched for the truth.

It started in a matter of minutes during an offering message, a message veering off about spiritual sons and daughters listening and obeying their spiritual fathers. It had nothing to do with the offering time, but it somehow made its way into it. The mark of a true spiritual son or daughter was said to not simply being a casual listener in the crowd, but in Jesus seeing who was listening and following Him. What followed brought the first personal pause in my seat. John 10:27 was referenced for listening to your spiritual father, stating that Jesus said, “My sheep hear me, and they do what I say.”

My ears perked up. Was that what Jesus said? It did not sound right. But who was I to question? I continued listening along with everyone else in attendance. True spiritual sons and daughters were to obey the voice of their leader, their spiritual father. If they did not, they were said to be manifesting a rebellious spirit. The second Scripture followed regarding this, citing John 14:15 when Jesus told His disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” It was at that moment, the questions began, and the unsettling fear of what I had sat under for years crept to the surface of my thoughts. It was concerning to hear the very words of Jesus Christ in obeying Him equated to obeying a fallible and human spiritual leader.

But something else became clear with time. The call to listen based on John 10:27 resulted in me listening and hearing the voice of the Shepherd in the confines of His Word, the Shepherd who is not a hired hand. The Word of God had been misappropriated and even contorted in an attempt to make it mean something else. However, when reading this verse in context, it is a salvific passage. His sheep do hear His voice, He knows them, and they follow Him.

I continued in explaining to the young man who had asked me the question the irony of the situation: it was the very misuse of the Word of God that God used to get my attention. He used it to cause me to look up from grazing and to hear His Word among the clamor of error. The Word of God does not return empty. His Word accomplishes its purpose and is successful. His gospel will not be denied, even in false teaching. No one is a match for the Holy Spirit who leads and guides into all truth. When I think about that pivotal moment, I meditate on God’s goodness and His faithfulness to His own Word. I thank God for that moment. He gets all the glory.

Listen to this in-depth episode from The Lovesick Scribe podcast discussing this very moment when God’s Word did not return empty: God’s Word Does Not Return Empty – The Lovesick Scribe Podcast | Podcast on Spotify