Listening to God

Yu came home cranky because a deadline got moved up.  She came home grumpy because the day care forgot to give your five—year-old her throat medicine.  Each of you was wanting a little sympathy from the other, but neither got any.  So there you sit at the dinner table – cranky and grumpy – with little Emily.  Emily folds her hands to pray (as she has been taught), and the two od you bow your heads (but not your hearts) and listen.  From where this prayer comes, God only knows.
“God, it’s Emily.  How are you?  I’m fine, thank you.  Mom and Dad are mad.  I don’t know why.  We’ve got birds and toys and mash potatoes and each other.  Maybe you can get them to stop being mad?  Please do, or it’s just gonna be you and me having any fun tonight.  Amen.
The prayer is answered before it’s finished, you both look up in the middle and laugh at the end and shake your heads and say you’re sorry.  And you both thank God for the little voice who reminded you about what matters.
That’s what “lovebursts” do … Lovebursts.  Spontaneous affection.  Tender moments of radiant love.  Ignited devotion.  Explosions of tenderness … They remind you about what matters.  A telegram delivered to the back door of the familiar, telling you to treasure the treasure you’ve got while you’ve got it.  A whisper from an angel, or someone who sounds like one, remaining you that what you have is greater than what you want and that what is urgent is not always what matters.

(From He Still Moves Stones by Max Lucado)

Exodus 9:12

But the LORD made Pharaoh even more stubborn, and he refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted.

God gave Pharaoh many opportunities to heed Moses’ warnings. But finally God seemed to say, “All right, Pharaoh, have it your way,” and Pharaoh’s heart became permanently hardened. Did God intentionally harden Pharaoh’s heart and overrule his free will? No, he simply confirmed that Pharaoh freely chose a life of resisting God. Similarly, after a lifetime of resisting God, you may find it impossible to turn to him. Don’t wait until just the right time before turning to God. Do it now while you still have the chance. If you continually ignore God’s voice, eventually you will be unable to hear it at all.

1 Kings 19:11-13

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah knew that the sound of gentle whisper was God’s voice. He realized that God doesn’t reveal himself only in powerful, miraculous ways. To look for God only in something big (rallies, churches, conferences, highly visible leaders) may be to miss him because he is often found gently whispering in the quietness of a humbled heart. Are you listening for God? Step back from the noise and activity of your busy life, and listen humbly and quietly for his guidance. It may come when you least expect it.

Proverbs 1:23-28

Come here and listen to me! I’ll pour out the spirit of wisdom upon you and make you wise.
24“I called you so often, but you didn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. 25You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. 26So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—27when calamity overcomes you like a storm, when you are engulfed by trouble, and when anguish and distress overwhelm you.
28“I will not answer when they cry for help. Even though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.

God is more than willing to pour out his heart and make known his thoughts to us. To receive his advice, we must be willing to listen, refusing to let pride stand in our way. Pride is thinking more highly of our own wisdom and desires than of God’s. If we think we know better than God or feel we have no need of God’s direction, we have fallen into foolish and disastrous pride.

Mark 4:9

“Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!”

We hear with our ears, but there is a deeper kind of listening with the mind and heart that is necessary in order to gain spiritual understanding from Jesus’ words. Some people in the crowd were looking for evidence to use against Jesus; others truly wanted to learn and grow. Jesus’ words were for the honest seekers.

Hebrews 2:1-3

So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. 2  The message God delivered through angels has always proved true, and the people were punished for every violation of the law and every act of disobedience. 3  What makes us think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation that was announced by the Lord Jesus himself? It was passed on£ to us by those who heard him speak,

The author called his readers to pay attention to the truth they had heard so that they wouldn’t drift away into false teachings. Paying careful attention is hard work. It involves focusing our mind, body, and senses. Listening to Christ means not merely hearing but also obeying (see James 1:22-25). We must listen carefully and be ready to carry out his instructions.

“The message God delivered through angels” refers to the teaching that angels, as messengers for God, had brought the law to Moses (see Galatians 3:19). A central theme of Hebrews is that Christ is infinitely greater than all other proposed ways to God. The author was saying that the faith of his Jewish readers was good, but faith must point to Christ. Just as Christ is greater than angels, so Christ’s message is more important than theirs. No one will escape God’s punishment if he or she is indifferent to the salvation offered by Christ.

Eyewitnesses to Jesus’ ministry had handed down his teachings to the readers of this book. These readers were second-generation believers who had not seen Christ in the flesh. They are like us; we have not seen Jesus personally. We base our belief in Jesus on the eyewitness accounts recorded in the Bible. See John 20:29 for Jesus’ encouragement to those who believe without ever having seen him.

My Ramblings

How do you react to problems and pressures?  Ask God to help you lighten up with laughter, forgiveness, and trust – that God will give you all the energy you need.

When you have truly love and trust God enough to turn over control of your life to God’s control.  You will find that all you have to do is do your best, because he is in control.