I'm listening

Isaiah 55:11  So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

One thing I have learned...God is always speaking to us. My whole life, He has been speaking to me--I was just unwilling to listen. 

When I found myself on my own to manage life and raise my kids, I learned very quickly that I desperately need to hear Him speak to me--and often. So one of my most fervent prayers became "Lord, let me hear Your voice." When you pray for something like that, you'd better get ready because He wants to answer!

I've always been guilty of telling Him what I want and then praying "Lord, please let this be Your will"...and then going right ahead with my plans without a thought as to what He really had to say about it. This kind of behavior has gotten me into some pretty bad scrapes.

But He has lovingly chastened me over the years and has helped me realize that what I truly want is His will--even if it means waiting or getting something other than what I'm asking for--because anything other than His will is not the best for me. Once I began truly seeking Him and pleading with Him to tell me what to do, where to go, whom to call, what to say, how to respond, how much to spend, or whether I can trust, etc., I began to notice that my days became filled with intimate two-way conversation between my Heavenly Father and me. Life is so much different when we have the wisest Counselor of the entire universe to speak to us and help us live our lives and make our decisions.

God speaks in many ways. Much of the time He uses well-known scriptures that suddenly apply in very new and different ways to my problems. Often He reveals scripture I've never seen before. Or He might deliver a word through a friend, a relative, or even a stranger, and when what they have to say touches me in a deep and unexpected way, I sense an anointing on their words and know He has spoken. And sometimes He chooses to allow His Holy Spirit to reveal certain things directly to my heart, and I simply know and receive what He is saying to me. And because I am a doubting Thomas, He remains faithful to provide confirmation through His word or through other people...or sometimes both.

Isaiah 42:9  Behold, the former things have come to pass. And new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.

For me, the challenge is in believing Him and in having faith in what He has told me because in the very moment I decide that I do trust Him, that I do believe what He says, I'm hit with the enemy's crafty attempts to distract me and cloud my vision and make it seem like there is no way I could have heard correctly. Through Satan's relentless badgering, my thoughts begin to turn away from the Truth. ...I knew that didn't make sense...I was stupid to think that God would speak to me...there is no possible way what I thought He said to me could really happen--just look at how bad things are!

But the Truth always wins. He confirms to me yet again that He is always at work for my good, that He is Truth and He cannot lie, and that I must have faith in what He has said to me. His word was true for Noah, for Abraham, for Moses, for Joshua, for Mary, for Zacharias, for Paul, and for countless others down through the ages...and His word is just as true for me today.

Luke 1:45  Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.

He led me to this scripture to confirm something to me yesterday--something very far-fetched that He spoke into my heart over a year ago. So despite how things look, despite how the enemy wants to discourage me, despite my failed attempts to make sense of it all, and despite my inability to work out in my mind how it could possibly come to pass, I will believe that He has told me the truth, and I will not lose faith. I will watch with an expectant heart as His plan unfolds.


Thank you, Lord that You speak to me the way You do. I don't know how I could ever make it in this life without hearing Your voice. Please help me to trust in Your word; help me to have faith until You bring it to pass in Your perfect timing. May it be to me as You have said. Amen.