Recently I was in a crowded store with my husband and there were people talking and music playing but when my husband was in another aisle and he said, "Babe," I was able to weed through all the other voices and noises and hear him, and in turn I was able to answer him. If I had never heard my husband's voice I would have never thought to listen to him calling out "Babe," it would have been just another voice in the store. But because I have spent countless hours talking with my husband and listening to him, I can distinguish his voice from a crowd. Now, if you know my husband, you know that he has a loud voice. If you don't know him, I'll put it in perspective for you. He is a preacher and rarely does he need the microphone the churches readily supply for him. The fact that he has such a loud voice helps when I need to hear his voice. It makes it easier to muddle through the other voices in a store to hear him when he calls for me from an aisle or two over.
In the scripture we read that God will instruct, teach and counsel us, which is great because life is a difficult journey to traverse without instruction. However, we have to keep in mind that we have to be able to recognize God's still small voice in the midst of the crowded store or whatever storm we may be going through. How do we do that? When the world is such a loud and boisterous place, how do we zero in on the quiet whisper of the Holy Spirit? Well, we have to know the voice to begin with, that's for sure.
How do you hear God's voice? Pray. In Matthew Jesus tells us to go to our prayer room and close the door and pray to our Father. We have to be able to get quiet in our prayer time. Prayer is not just about repeating words that we have heard over and over again, it's not just about spewing out a list of wants, needs and desires. Yes we need to bring those things to God, but prayer is communication with God, meaning He will speak back to you if you give Him the time to do so. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who won't let you get a word in edgewise? They just go on and on about nonsense? Sometimes they even ask what you think about something but then just keep talking, telling you what you think about it? Don't do that to God. Speak to Him and let Him speak back. Get quiet. Turn off the phone, the TV, the computer, and please stop looking at the time, just pour out to God and watch Him pour out to you.
It's also important to remember that God's voice is not always audible. There have been quite a few times when I have heard God VERY audibly. For example, when he spoke about marrying my husband. However, more often God speaks through a scripture or a person. I'll be in prayer about something in particular and then later that day a friend will call and say something that answers the very thing I had been praying about. Sometimes I'll turn on TBN and there is a pastor sharing a word on the subject I was just crying out to God for guidance on. Maybe in my reading time I read a passage that I have read hundreds of times before but God gives me a new revelation that guides and directs me. There are many ways to hear God's voice, but you have to be attuned to Him in order to recognize it, and the only way to be attuned to Him is to spend time with Him.
Next is understanding that sometimes we have to ask God to speak. So often we get so caught up in being independent and making our own decisions that we forget to ask God whether or not it's actually in the plan for our life. Sometimes we will get the opinion of a friend or pastor and think that what they say is the answer without consulting God at all. Sometimes the decision seems so clear that we forget to even ask God's opinion on the matter. But God wants to speak into your life. He wants to guide and direct you, it's your job to not only listen but engage Him in conversation. Ask him what He would have you do when there is a decision to be made.
A few years ago I was offered to go with the church I was attending to World Harvest (Pastor Rod Parsley) for a pastors and leadership conference. I immediately knew that I wanted to go but I was nervous because I had never flown before. I prayed about it for a time and I heard God's voice audibly tell me that I needed to go to that conference. I didn't hesitate at that point, I told my pastor I would be joining the group and I paid for my plane ticket and started saving the money for the hotel accommodations. A couple of weeks before we were set to go on the trip I lost my job. Now I had the money for the hotel and spending money already set aside and my bills were paid for at least until I was set to return from Ohio but after that I would have nothing. I was staying with family at the time so I wouldn't be homeless but I wouldn't have money for any other bills. For a split second I thought about canceling the whole trip and hunting for a job but then I reminded myself that I had heard God audibly tell me to go on this trip. Surely He would not have be go and come back to bills without a means to pay them. I prayed and decided that I would still go on the trip and what's more I wasn't going to tell my pastors or any of the team about my circumstances. I wanted to be able to go on this trip and glean everything I could from the conference without concern for my situation.
A week before we were set to leave I took the money for the hotel to my pastor (He was collecting all of the hotel funds to purchase hotel rooms and then assign roommates to the rooms in order to save a bit of money). When I went to hand him the money he smiled and shook his head. He told me that the pastors had decided that the church was paying for all of our hotel rooms as a gift to us for sacrificing the time for the ministry. I was shocked. We were staying in Ohio for about a week so this was a few hundred dollars that I now had free. I put the money back in my purse and started thinking about what bills I wanted to pay ahead of time so that I wouldn't have to worry about them when I got home, but God informed me that He had other plans for that money. As I was walking out of the pastor's office I overheard one of the women in the ministry talking about how her car had broken down again and the hardship it was causing to her and her children. When I heard God say to give her the money I stopped in my tracks. I know God's voice but that was one of those moments where I HAD to be sure it was Him. I walked away from the situation, knowing I wasn't going to give her the money where everyone could see because I did not want the glory for the action. Later I found her sitting alone and I heard God say again that the money was hers. I walked over to her and handed her the money and told her that God loved her and didn't want her family to struggle. I gave her a hug and I walked away.
I went to Ohio that year and I gleaned so much from that conference, ideas that I still think about some years later. When I got home from that conference there was a job waiting for me where I made more than I had made at the job I lost prior to going, and the following year was one of the greatest years in ministry that I have had to date.
I didn't share that story to glorify myself or my obedience or anything even remotely like that. I shared it in hopes that it encourages you to listen to and obey God for yourself. I could have stayed home and maybe I would have gotten a job, maybe not. I could have kept that money for myself and someone else would have blessed that woman and her children, or maybe not. All I know is when I think back on that time I don't think about what would have happened if I had listened to God, I think about how amazing it felt to listen to Him and how I knew I was going to be taken care of.
Sometimes it's hard to hear God's voice. Sometimes it's hard to believe that you're hearing God's voice. Sometimes it's even harder to be obedient to God's voice once you know that it's Him. But know that when you are obedient to His voice, He will guide you and protect you, regardless how impossible the circumstances may seem.
Father, I thank you for every individual who takes the time to read this. I pray that you open their spiritual ears and allow them the pleasure of hearing your voice. I pray that you speak to them in such a way that they have no doubt that it's you. Thank you for hearing me when I speak to you. Thank you for speaking to me when I need your guidance and direction. Thank you for opening doors and blessing me with opportunities to share the gospel with others. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Forever smiling,
Me
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