"Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we're the HOUSE! That's why the Holy Spirit says,
Today, please LISTEN;
don't turn a deaf ear as in 'the bitter uprising,'
that time of wilderness testing!
Even though they watched me at work for forty years,
your ancestors REFUSED to let me do it my way;
over and over they tried my patience.
And I was provoked, oh, so provoked!
I said, 'They'll never keep their minds on God;
they refuse to walk down my road.'
Exasperated, I vowed,
'They'll never get where they're going,
never be able to sit down and rest."
– Hebrews 3:6-11
SICKNESS. FASTS FROM TALKING TO TEAMMATES. NIGHT OF INDIVIDUAL PRAYER. ALONE TIME. BOREDOM. SICKNESS, AGAIN.
I think it is safe to say that God is trying to get my attention. Whether it is forced or voluntary, God is teaching me the importance of LISTENING.You see, a lot of the time we become so concerned with, "why is God not speaking, why can I not hear His voice?" when in reality we have been REFUSING to listen. God never abandons us, we are the ones who RUN away, who turn our back from our loving Father. Although slowing down and listening hasn't always been the most fun or enjoyable experience, once I learned to just sit down and SHUT UP, I suddenly started to learn more than I could ever imagine. And actually, listening to others is one of the gifts that God has so graciously bestowed upon me, but sometimes I miss out on hearing Him and Him speak through others because I think it is necessary to always offer my small bits of knowledge all the time.
But THANKFULLY, we serve a GRACIOUS. FORGIVING. ALL-KNOWING. ALL-LOVING. GOD! Who loves me no matter my faults and failures. Who teaches me even in the midst of my disobedience and abandonment. Thank you God for teaching me to LISTEN, for loving me even when I am pretty unloveable. Thank you for being completely UNFAIR, because I don't deserve anything, but you give me EVERYTHING!
This is one thing He taught me when I chose to listen…
"I don't deserve the gifts God has given me but that is why they are GIFTS. I am NOTHING without God but EVERYTHING with God! Absolutely NOTHING is impossible with God and He is the reason I can have boldness and confidence, NOTHING in me but EVERYTHING because HE RESIDES INSIDE OF ME. Thank you LORD for the Holy Spirt, my HELPER, my GUIDANCE, my INTERCESSOR. Thank you that you don't ever leave me alone. I AM MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU!"
(One of my journal entries during my hour of prayer from 12-1am during our team all-night prayer night, 4/12/12)
So please readers ponder this question for me…
ARE YOU LISTENING? REALLY LISTENING?
BECAUSE…
GOD. WANTS. TO. SPEAK. TO. YOU!
