I was speaking to a friend the other day when she said
that she was having trouble listening for God. How, she asked me, do we know
that God is talking to us, and when are we simply giving our own spin on what
we want God to be saying?
As Christians, we all struggle with this issue. Hearing
God’s voice takes practice and purity of heart, because sometimes you might
mistake the voice inside your head for that of God. Was it really He who told
you to check out addiction
rehab centers? Or was it the repeated advice of friends
and family that led you there?
Hearing
What Is Spoken
I am a firm believe that God doesn’t speak just one
language, and I don’t mean Spanish and English. God speaks to us through life.
He speaks to us through the daily coincidences that we marvel over on Facebook
(how many posts start off with “what a small world!”). Did anyone consider that
maybe it wasn’t a coincidence? That if you suffer from a drinking problem and
you happen to run into an old college roommate who’s now in Alcoholics
Anonymous, perhaps that’s God sending you a sign?
I don’t believe in coincidences. God cannot talk to us
in a voice that we can understand from the heavens, nor does He have time to do
individual consulting by phone when we pray for an answer to a question
(although wouldn’t that be neat?).
Instead we must be looking for the answer after we have
asked him a question. It is not enough simply to pray for wisdom or assistance.
We must be vigilant to hone in on his answer.
Ignoring
What We Don’t Want to Hear
The problems can come when people ignore the answers
that God is so very clearly laying before them. That is because often we do not
want to hear what God has to say. We don’t want to acknowledge that it’s time
to give up alcohol. We don’t want to love our neighbor as ourselves after our
neighbor accidentally backed over our son’s new bike. And we certainly don’t
want to stop indulging in behavior that is easy and embrace behavior that is
hard.
Often the very hardest thing to do is to accept that
God’s answers do not jibe with our own plans. Maybe you want to make lots of
money so that your family can have a nice house, and yet you feel God telling
you that your mission should be working with orphans in Africa.
How long can you put God off? How many signs can you
ignore that point you in the direction of the African children? God never gives
up. He will always believe in you, and so He will continue to send you the
message until you listen. Whether it takes one or 10 years, He will persist.
Trust in Him, and you will learn why He has chosen this path for you. Open your
mind and your heart to start.
Michelle is a blogger and freelancer. She’s written about almost every topic under the sun, and loves constantly learning about new subjects and industries while she’s writing. In her spare time she enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.
