It’s finally quiet, so I decide to grab my Bible and a notebook and go outside to read and pray.
Oh ya, and I grab my phone too, because, well…I just may need it to search something on my Blue Letter Bible App.
Ya know, in case I want to get really deep with something.
But 10 minutes in, I get a text.
So I check it. And it makes me laugh, so I have to just send a quick text back.
But that text reminded me that I needed to check to see if my Amazon order had been shipped yet, so I do that real quick.
But then the page was taking a while to load, so I just swipe out of that real quick and click on my facebook app to see if I have any notifications…then my instagram app…ya know, Just in case.
And here we are. 15 minutes in, and I haven’t even barely finished praying and preparing my heart.
I read a quick passage in Psalms and Proverbs and then I have to get back in the house to take care of other things going on.
Later that week, I start thinking about how things are going in my life.
I start thinking about where I’m at with God, my relationship with Him and just the overall feeling of closeness.
I have been reading my Bible every day, but I feel like I’m not really hearing his voice.
I start questioning things.
Wondering why I am not hearing God speak.
Like, is he even talking to me? Is he even there? Why does He feel so distant?
But when I look back at how I’ve been treating Him, I realize the problem. It’s me.
He’s still speaking. He is always speaking.
I just can’t hear His voice over my notifications.
Why do I let myself do this?
I KNOW in my heart that I need Jesus. I need to listen. I can’t live without Him, and I need to hear his voice!
I know based on John 10:27 that as a sheep, I WILL hear His voice and I will KNOW IT!
That is so huge, because I feel like people are asking all the time – “How do I know when it’s God’s voice?”
I don’t think that God ever wanted it to be so confusing.
Think about it. He makes this very cut and dry comment, almost in passing.
Like, My sheep hear my voice and know me, people…duh! (He probably wouldn’t add the “duh” part, but sometimes I like to think that has a sarcastic streak in Him!)
It should just be that simple and that basic.
We should be in such a close relationship with Him, that we would know His voice from a mile away!
Doesn’t it seem like whenever we aren’t sure if it’s Him or not, that WE are the one with the issue?
It has to be. The confusion can only be with us.
I think that most of the time, the reason we aren’t sure if it’s him or not is because of the results.
We think we hear Him.
So we do what we think we heard.
Then it does not work out the way we had hoped or planned.
So then we doubt.
We question.
We go back and wonder if we ever really heard Him in the first place.
Why? If we are in tune with Him…reading His Word, asking Him to speak to us, then He will speak!
And when He speaks and tells us what to do, He expects obedience.
And when we obey, the RESULTS ARE UP TO HIM!
We don’t get to pick the results, we just get to choose if we are going to do what He says, or not.
And don’t you just know that the ONE thing the enemy would want the most would be for us to start questioning God’s voice?
Because when we can’t hear, we can’t follow instructions.
And when we stop following instructions, our whole life starts to unravel.
So what do we do? We start doubting. And that is just the place the enemy wants us.
The enemy wants us to doubt God’s Word. Because then we will start to doubt God himself.
1 Corinthians 16:13 tells us:
“Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith…be strong.”
These little distractions? When they are keeping us from hearing God’s voice, they are more than just little distractions.
They are huge distractions. Enormous distractions. Life changing distractions.
How do we keep from being distracted?
By being focused.
Here are three ways we can help ourselves be free from distractions.
1.We prepare our hearts (Ezra 7:10)
*Decide before we start, what our time with the Lord will look like. Set out our Bible and notebook. Put our phone away. Set aside a certain time to spend time with Him. We prepare ourselves for success. Think about it. Every aspect of our lives can be better if we prepare the way we should (getting lunches ready the night before, getting the shovels out the day BEFORE it is supposed to snow.) Being prepared is a huge factor on how our lives will end up.
2.We fix our eyes and thoughts on Him (2 Corinthians 4:18, Hebrews 3:1)
We stop spending as much time on social media, on watching the news, on watching tv…and we put our thoughts on Him. We shut off the surrounding noise, and we expect to hear God’s voice. Controlling our thoughts is a requirement as a believer. We are told to take our thoughts captive. We grab them! We MAKE them obey Christ. This implies that WE have the ability to be in control. Our thoughts will only control us if we let them. Where we look determines where we go.
3.We forget what is behind and look forward (Philippians 3:13)
We don’t waste time thinking about how much we have blown it in the past.
We ask forgiveness if needed, and move on. We look forward. Always looking and pushing forward.
When we are drawing near to Him, He promises to draw near to us.
What could possibly be more important than having the creator of the Universe, the King of Kings, the God who loved us enough to send his son to save us…draw near to us?
Nothing.
It makes all the silly little notifications that I’m checking seem absolutely ridiculous.
So today, ask yourself. Are you notifications keeping you from hearing God’s voice?
Is that worth it to you?
Do you need to change anything?
What are you going to do about it?
Let’s put ourselves in the position where we are best able to hear God speak to us.
I think you know just as well as I do.
It will be well worth it.
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