Tag: How to hear God

PERK UP YOUR EARS

Why wouldn’t God clarify exactly how He was going to restore my life?

A few years ago, I lost my hearing.  No, it wasn’t the physical hearing associated with all the tiny bones in the ear. I lost the ability to hear God’s voice. Life circumstances had plummeted to rock bottom.  Where was God in the middle of it? Had He moved a million miles away with no forwarding address? I thought God zigged when I zagged. He left me in a dark forest with no path, no compass and no flashlight to find my way out.  All I wanted was for life to become normal again. I wanted my life rebuilt on my terms. Where was God?

THE DEPRESSION

For quite a while I sank into a deep depression. Anger and panic became my closest friends.  Why wouldn’t God clarify exactly how He was going to restore my life?  My support system had been washed away. This painful period took far longer than I ever wished.

STEPS TOWARD RESTORATION

That’s when I started to slowly begin looking for the path God laid before me; that which I previously refused to acknowledge.  I wanted my life to be reset to its old modes, but God said, “No.” When I finally demanding life as I imagined it, God began to clearly speak, but on His terms.  He pushed me to view life with gratitude, even for the smallest things.  I slowed down and read His Words no longer because I was supposed to teach them, but because they became my river of strength.  Even church attendance transformed into a thing of beauty, not a place of obligation. God was there all the time, I just had refused listen to His quiet voice.

THE FABRIC OF MY NEW LIFE

All those lovely and vital parts of God’s screenplay that I had missed, became the very fabric of my new life. What at first I considered a great tragedy transformed into one of the greatest gifts I ever received.

GOD’S WHISPER

For all of you who find yourself in the midst of crushing defeat, disappointment and failure, I want to let you know that there is hope.  The pain may be excruciating right now but I beg you to hold on and ride out the tide.  When you feel like you can no longer hang on and you can’t hear God’s voice, quiet down and listen. The prophet Elijah had to listen for the whisper. God is here. (I Kings 19:11-12)

THE SIREN CALL

Suddenly, I heard a siren behind me. I pulled over assuming the police officer needed to pass by. Surely, he was not stopping me! 

Newly licensed and driving home from school on Rt. 222 south. I possessed not a care in the world. I inherited my heavy foot on the gas from my father. Suddenly, I heard a siren behind me. I pulled over assuming the police officer needed to pass by. Surely, he was not stopping me! 

He climbed out of his cruiser and yelled, “I have been following you for ½ a mile with my lights flashing and you ignored me!!”.  No way could I talk myself out of that ticket.

LITTLE SAMUEL’S SIREN CALL

That brings us to the story of little Samuel in I Samuel chapter 3.  He isn’t sixteen years old speeding down the highway, but he doesn’t realize the significance of his “siren call” in the middle of the night.  Samuel always slept, ready to wake up at the quiet voice of elderly Eli when Eli needed assistance.  Samuel doesn’t know that this siren call is different. This call is directly from God. 

THE WORD OF THE LORD WAS RARE

To actually hear the voice of God is pretty exceptional.  The beginning of the passage says that “In those days the Word of the Lord was rare.”  Samuel was always eager to obey his foster father, Eli, but it never entered his mind that the voice he was hearing was God Himself. 

ISRAEL WAY OFF TRACK

Historically, Israel was way off track.  Spiritual oversight broke down with Eli, the High Priest of Shiloh, the second-to-last Israelite judge.  His progeny, Hophni and Phinehas, were expected to take up the torch of leadership, however both sons are corrupt to the core. They ignored their father’s corrections. Like most of Israel, they ignored God.

EVERY DID WHAT SEEMED RIGHT IN THEIR OWN EYES

“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25). No wonder, in those days the Word of the Lord was rare.  Israel is bopping toward spiritual destruction, without a care in the world, totally disregarding God.

ARE YOU MISSING THE CALL OF GOD?

Have you been bopping down the highway of life, speeding along, ignoring the spiritual potholes?  Are you so wrapped up in your own life and concerns that you missed the warning lights from God and the siren call of His Word?  It is not too late.  Go before God, let Him deep clean any sin that has been clouding your spiritual eyesight. Beg Him to deepen your time with Him so that You can understand His written Word.  Miracles happen when we listen to God. 

GOD’S BEST FOR YOU

The Apostle Paul prayed for you:  “That your love may abound more and more [displaying itself in greater depth] in real knowledge and in practical insight, 10 so that you may learn to recognize and treasure what is excellent [identifying the best, and distinguishing moral differences], and that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ [actually living lives that lead others away from sin]; 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God [so that His glory may be both revealed and recognized] (Philippians 1:9-11).  Heed God’s siren!