God showed up, but have I?
Do you have long conversations with God, sometimes that last all day? But do you ever feel like He doesn’t speak to you personally? Are you special or significant enough? Or maybe you think that’s for someone else and not you? Sometimes we may be afraid to hear what’s on God’s mind lol. I wanted to share with you all some of my experiences on discovering God’s voice because I am just a regular gal trying to do my best to be a wife, sister, aunt, a friend, sometimes doing good but also sometimes falling short. I know for sure that if I hear God that you can. As believers, we are all blessed by the same ability to hear God’s voice because we have the Holy Spirit within us. But what I’ve learned is that we need to spend time listening to God through quiet time like prayer, reading the bible, walks, watching a sunrise, or looking up into the heavens at night to see His beautiful stars. When we look around at His creations and handprints in our life, we discover that God shows up.
We may ask, how do we listen to God’s voice? Some of the ways God speaks to us in our prayers and as we read His word, pondering how this scripture applies to my life and what is God saying to me through it. God also speaks to us through the beauty of nature, and sometimes through other people.
“And behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Matthew 3:17
We should listen to God’s voice because God loves us! God is all-knowing. As believers, we walk in a personal relationship with God and He has given us the Holy Spirit to live within us. To impart the ‘deep things’ of His mind. The Holy Spirit will bring to mind the truths that God wants you to know.
“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10 NKJV
God’s thoughts towards us are good. Who does not want good thoughts toward them? Especially by the Creator of our Universe who knows all.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 NKJV
Isn’t this beautiful? I hold onto this verse tightly. To know that even though some will try to hurt you – we know God is not one of them. God’s thoughts toward you are not thoughts of evil but thoughts of peace – how glorious is that! Indeed, this gives me hope and a future to know that I am loved by the Creator of the universe. That I am special and significant enough. And that if I call upon Him and pray to Him, he will listen – yes God listens.
Plain and simple, God gives direction. I was getting wound up and overwhelmed with the start of this blog. During my prayer time and throughout the day I kept hearing in my mind, “Keep it simple”, “start simple”. For example, how was I going to get people to sign up for the blog? I heard, “Start simple, add 10 people to your email. Release it. Keep it true and honest.” So, that is my motto, or at least I will try to keep it my motto! When I have gone as far as I can go, I need to let go, turn it over to God, and you know what He always says – Let it go, for now, keep it simple. Make a list of what needs to be done and I will let you know the priority – God is an amazing goal planner!
God can speak to us when we are feeling restless. In Dr. Charles Stanley’s “Life Principles Bible”, Life Principle #10 teaches that God will move heaven and earth to show us His will. One of the ways that God may use to get our attention is through restlessness. Dr. Stanley teaches that when we wake up in the middle of the night, we can ask, “God, I hear you. What would you like to talk to me about?”
I just love this! One night I woke up and instead of getting frustrated or upset, I thought, “Well, I was going to ask. I said, “God is that You, and what do you want to tell me?” And in the quiet stillness of that night, I remembered an important deadline that was coming up the next day that I had forgotten. Upon waking I was thankful, relieved, and made my deadline.
God shares our burdens with us. One evening I felt the world pulling me into anxieties of burdens, like: did I overstep my boundaries with a friend? Was it time for a career change? Is that aching toe pain going to go away when I lose a few more pounds – thoughts racing here and there and then through all that noise the words “Stay with me” came into my mind. I realized it was God saying get back to Me, to my word, to pure and good things, to beautiful things. Do not worry, I’ve got this. Another morning “Stay with me” echoed, meaning for me to keep my focus on God and He will guide me. I love “Stay with Me” as it is so easy to go adrift. When I drift away from God, I hear Him say, “Stay with Me” and this pulls me back to Him. I love how God’s word tells me exactly what to do. It can be easy to get lost in the world, but God is always constant, and this is so comforting.
Listen for God’s voice in every aspect of life. Looking closely at my own life I see God’s handprints everywhere. God knows exactly where we are and what we need in every area of our lives. Stay alert to the subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways that God will use to speak to us to get our attention when we are drifting off His path or going in the wrong direction. God has shown up and we can discover that we are all special and significant to God. He will whisper sweet words of encouragement, stir up our heart’s desires, plant songs of praise, and even sometimes move heaven and the earth for us.
“Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10
Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29
Love To Hear Your Thoughts