Listening

How to listen to that still small voice, to know it is Him; to not “argue” when I hear it, but to pause and listen again.  So often I don’t pause long enough to check but quickly dismiss His whispered leading and continue on with my plan.  When the curse of the fall takes hold of my heart,  that I think that I am in charge and need to be in control, but really most of the time I don’t have a clue what I am doing.  So often in the daily things and decisions it creeps in that thinking “I Know” and I will do this because I think it is the best way, yet all that happens is I stumble over my own two feet and end up in the ditch of self-pity or anger.

Psalm 103 says, “The Lord is tender and kind He is gracious, He is slow to get angry He is full of love He won’t keep bringing charges against us, He won’t stay angry forever…”

There is hope, He forgives us when we don’t listen; even though it makes us miss out on His rest, the rest He designed for us to live in.

One instance of this in my life happened recently.  I was in a city I did not know and did not have a lot of money.  I was staying in a hotel but breakfast was not included so I decided to do the smart thing and look for a store to buy some food that I could have at a cheaper price.  So I set out to walk to the store.  As I was walking I passed a restaurant, as I passed I heard,  look here , but I reasoned that it would be more expensive than food at the store, so I continued on my way.  I came to the place where the store was supposed to be but the store was no more.  I asked someone but they said they never heard of a store there.   So I walked back and passed the same restaurant again.  I was thinking about what I should do, still not willing to go in.  I had seen and was pretty sure there was a MacDonald’s close by so I kept walking.  A mall was just a block down so went and checked it out.  After seeing that there was no McDonald’s I went back outside, finally, I asked the Lord.   That nudge came to go back to that restaurant, so that is what I did, and it was very affordable and delicious.

Lesson learned.  Pause, stop running in own direction and listen for that still small voice, because He still speaks quietly to us.  It is okay to stop, turn around, change directions and do a new thing.  Next time you are not sure if its God speaking, stop and listen.  Ask questions if necessary, He doesn’t mind, He just wants to be part of everything we do all day long.  So lets practice, practice, practice, at all times in the big and little things.

“Be still and Know that I am God” Psalm 46:10