This month I have focused mostly on hearing from God. I spent a little time last month not necessarily comparing myself to others – but feeling confused as to why I don’t hear from God the way others on my squad and even my team do. Why don’t I have amazing detailed dreams or get visions or just plain hear his voice tell me things that are so specific that there is no denying that it is God speaking to me?!! I committed at the beginning of this month that I was going to choose to spend time every single morning in the Word and just opening my heart to be able to hear from the Lord. I chose to just ask God to speak to me and was not going to be satisfied until it happened. I want to know Him and I want to hear Him speaking to my heart – I want Him to tell me each day what I need to hear. I asked some very reliable people to pray for my mind for this month. If you are not aware yet – I am a very social person and usually if there is any sort of conversation going on around me…I will choose to engage in people instead of spending time with the Lord, quieting my heart and allowing myself to hear from Him. I have been a Christian for 12 years now, half of my life, and I still struggle with having a consistent quiet time – pitiful,but just the truth. This is one of the first things you are taught after accepting Christ and certainly something I feel like I should have “down” by now. But I suppose this whole life is a journey and I feel as though God is teaching me that being a Christian is absolutely not about being perfect or even having things “down” – but all about the process and just constantly growing in Him and always moving forward all the while falling down and learning how to get back up again. It is all about the getting back up again – God knows I will never have it down and I will never be perfect but as long as I acknowledge that, that is what matters. Thankfully His love is not conditional and He never expects perfection from us– which is, I suppose, the sole reason He had to send Christ…because we will always fail…Thank the Lord He doesn’t!
All that to say that I got some great encouragement a week or so ago about learning how to realize that God is always speaking to me-in my circumstances and I should not try to hear or find Him only in certain and specific ways, or I will miss when He is moving. Praise the Lord that this month has been filled with peace and beautiful, calm mornings – with quiet! I have been able to spend so much time with the Lord in the mornings…in quiet…and I have been able to take in so much more. God knew how much I needed the non-distraction and He has provided a quiet place for me to steal away to be with Him. It has been a beautiful time of learning about Him through His word and just writing all that I am experiencing each day – whatever that happens to be each given morning. I have come to realize that God speaks to me much more than I have ever given Him credit for. I have chosen to see that the thoughts that come to my mind (the ones I sometimes think I may have come up with myself) are Gods way of speaking to me. It is pretty awesome – just to know that He is speaking to me and I have been so busy or distracted, that I have not realized that it was Him. I had to quiet my heart and my mind to realize.
The other morning, I was spending time with Him and I felt the Lord give me a word for Rachel (on my team). I shared with her the scripture that God had placed on my heart for her and oddly enough – it was a major theme in our next days devotional. I was pretty pumped because there are people on the World Race that are constantly getting “words” for other people and I have been praying for God to give me a word for someone. It was amazing – and to be able to share that with Rachel was wonderful. I guess I feel like for the first time really in my life, I am learning how to hear God’s voice (not a literal voice – which would be phenomenal…if He ever chose to do that)…and recognize it for what it is. I want to continue in growing in hearing from Him … and then obeying what I feel He is telling me to do. I encourage you that if you feel you do not or have never heard from God – spend time with Him: read His word, ask Him to quiet your mind, and just ask Him to speak –He will – He wants to talk to you!
This is an email I wrote to a friend – and felt like I was supposed to share with everyone.
