All in Hearing God
This morning I ask you to join me in contemplating those times when God has spoken to you. It may have been in a feeling you couldn't shake, a dream, in a voice only you could hear, by signs, or maybe in a vision. Is there a time when you realized that you were engaged in a "God Moment?"
How is it that we hear God speaking to us, and do we obey him when He does? Sometimes it is in a gentle breeze that guides us when we are still enough to perceive it, and at other times a low whisper that requires us to be silent, but we occasionally hear him in a loud clear voice. However we hear Him, we first, and always, must be listening. Sometimes He might get our attention with a storm, by violently shaking the earth, or with a raging fire but even then His voice will usually be gentle and low. Like Jesus did to Saul we might be knocked down, or blinded, but His voice, even when it comes in a more normal volume, will be clear and calm as He speaks, and as He directs us into a new life, just as Saul was as he became Paul. However, the real question in all of this is this… what do we do with what God tells us? Do we obey, or just wonder if that was really Him?
In talking with some believers they say that although they believe in God, He never seems to reveal Himself to them in the way that others claim to, that they don’t feel they are experiencing Jesus fully, or that as hard as they pray they just don’t feel like they have received the Holy Spirit. This frustrates them, and they ask… what am I doing wrong? How can I experience the fullness of Jesus? What must I do to hear God speaking to me, or to receive the Holy Spirit? My answer can be different depending on the person, but it always contains one observation… stop looking for God in the world, and start looking for the world in God.