Wednesday, 07 May 2008
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Listening to God
I think there's a certain enigma to listening to God. Whenever I speak to young Christians, this is one of the fundamental questions that they ask - "how do you listen to God? How do you know that God is speaking to you?"
Frankly - I still have trouble filtering out God's voice. The easy answer would be that we can mostly expect God to speak to us through the Bible...but this got me thinking. Most people will say that Jesus is not a religion, rather - it's a relationship. I fully agree with this...and according to my significant other, a relationship can not stand without good communication. and we all know communication is done in different ways - talking, body language, letters/writing, etc... Throughout the Bible we see God communicating with his people in many different ways - through actions, through a burning bush, through stone tablets, etc... so what's happening now? Why does it seem harder to listen to God than before?
As I sat there in my bed pondering this, i looked down at my dog.
that's when it hit me. Gromit (my dog) knows my voice - he listens to me. in fact, many dog owners will tell you that their dog has this acute sense that tells them that the dog knows what you're feeling. on the other hand, if a stranger gave him a command, he most likely wouldn't respond....now why is this?
it's the simple fact that he spends time with me. as a puppy, to his teen dog age he spent a lot of time with me. from then he got used to my scent, my expressions, my voice, my tones, everything. the more time he spent with me, the more familiar he became with me and now he knows exactly how i feel all the time.
The book of John says this:
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."
so this is what i took away - the more time you spend with God, the easier it will be to hear his voice and simply listen. more on this later...
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Comments (6)
In a bible study we are talking about how God is relational, ruler and righteous. If God was missing any of of these things above then we wouldn't have a good relationship with him. I think so many people have just turned off Gods voice that they can't here him any more. We have to listen not just talk.
Why does it seem so hard to listen to God than before?
In this time and age, people have to WANT to listen. Most people are too busy to hear anyone let alone God. I have been guilty of this and I'm quite shameful about it. Society is so "high" strung and so consumed with greed. They want what they don't need and need what they don't want!
Sadly I admit that I don't have the relationship with God that I would like to have. I am slowing moving in that direction though.
sweet analogy...
Five stars from me. Waiting to read more on this. :)
Oh, poor Gromit. Why the cone? I just dog-sat for a big dog who had a cone on his head, it was quite the experience!
Okay onto the serious stuff....I sometimes struggle with if I'm really hearing God talking to me. Or is it Satan acting like he's God to get me to conform to his ways. As I am growing stronger in my walk, I am hearing him more, responding to different things.
Like Saturday, I met a lady at church. It was her first time, she reached out to me first and asked me a question about the church I attend. I gave her the run down, talked to her for a good 15 minutes. Then excused myself to meet up with some friends. As we got into service, she came in a few minutes after me. I noticed she sat in a row by herself. I felt God's prompting to invite her to come sit with me and my friends. So, I went and got her and made a new friend in the process. :) It's something so simple in my eyes, but it could of meant the world to her and she said she would see me next week.
Have a fantastic day basking in His love!
Great analogy!!! The next time someone asks me that question, I'll have an answer that's pretty easy to understand!
thanks for sharing!