Rooms - James L. Rubart [119]
If his attempt to goad Rick had any effect, it didn’t show.
“In the end only one Voice matters.”
“What a surprise. Exactly what Archie’s letter said. But wake up. When I listen to my voice, it contradicts everything you and Archie say. It sends me back to Seattle where I lose Sarah and even lose God. But a minute ago you slammed my voice and slammed me for not telling you about him. Now I’m supposed to listen to it? Makes perfect sense.”
“As bright as you are in your natural mind, the enemy has greatly dulled your wisdom in your spirit.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The voice in your house is not the one you must listen to.”
“What?” He stared at Rick.
“It is not a part of you in any way.”
Rage and fear had mixed inside, anger the more dominant emotion. But now fear grew exponentially as his anger seeped away like a retreating wave. In desperation he tried to recapture the fury that had fueled his battle with Rick.
“And where is the truth, O Great and Holy Rick? Where is this voice I should listen to?”
“In you.”
“Oh, really?” Micah locked his arms across his chest and kicked a rock over the side of the cape. “Inside sinful Micah, huh?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth, son. Sin dwells in you, yes. If a man says he does not sin, the truth is not in him. But you forget, man is also the dwelling place of God. The heart is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the living God.”
Rick’s eyes bored into Micah’s. “You don’t have to go outside yourself to find the answer. You don’t have to listen to me, or Archie, or Sarah. And you don’t have to ask a voice living in utter darkness inside your house. You need to listen to the Spirit of God that makes His home inside you. That is the one true Voice. Go there now and ask the question. Now.”
Micah wanted to lash out at Rick with the last of his fading anger. A thought screamed through his mind: Push Rick over the side!
“You lie. My voice has been with me every step of this journey and has again and again given me perspective and insight I would never have seen without him.”
“He has deceived you. Time and again.”
Instantly the voice filled Micah’s mind: Everything with Rick ends in pain. He’s trying to control you, destroy you. Resist him!
Rick stepped forward. “The Word says, ‘Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.’ You have to fight the thought attacking you right now.”
Micah didn’t want to fight. Despair hammered him to his knees, and he pulled in ragged breaths.
Why fight this? He could just get out of here and clear his head. That’s what he came to do, not debate this clown.
The thoughts peppered his mind like machine-gun fire.
Get away from him! He is the villain. You know that!
He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and whispered, “Lord, if You’re here, I need help.”
Immediately the thoughts stabbing at him like a knife vanished. He leaned against a boulder and buried his head in his hands.
“It is time,” Rick said.
“For?”
“Surrender. Complete surrender.”
“I have.”
“No. Not all. You’ve never fully surrendered all that you are to Jesus. You must give Him everything. Nothing less is enough.”
“Tell me how,” Micah whispered.
“Seek Him now, in this moment, with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, all your strength. Die to everything you’ve ever dreamed, ever wanted, ever hoped for. I’ll be warring for you in prayer as you seek the truth.” Rick walked fifteen yards back toward the trail and disappeared behind a grove of spruce trees.
The last bubbles of anger inside Micah popped as Rick’s footsteps faded. Micah was done fighting. But who was right? The answers were nowhere and everywhere.
What had Rick said? The answer was in his own heart because God’s Spirit was there. If only it were that simple. He sighed. Where else could he turn?
“Jesus, all of it. You can have all of it. I surrender everything I am or ever hope to be. My hopes, dreams, Seattle, Cannon Beach, Sarah . . . everything. Talk to me.”