When God Speaks, You Don’t Always Hear His Voice
Yesterday, I shared how dense I can sometimes be when God is trying to show me something about my life or heart. Sometimes, it is an attitude I need to change, an action I need to take, or sin I need to stop doing. Once in a while, it is something I need to share with others, but most often only after I have learned the lesson myself.
The Bible is our ultimate reliable source for all things. It has no ulterior motive, cannot be passed off as a coincidence, is absolutely 100% true, and powerful. Yet, if we’re not catching on during our quiet time who says God can’t or won’t use people, books, and even TV to get your attention?
Say God has been speaking quietly to your heart about reaching out to your neighbor and suddenly the sitcom you’re watching has the mom delivering cookies to her neighbor. You’re listening to the radio on the way to work and a caller calls in and shares how a neighbor blessed them. A magazine comes for you in the mail and the feature article is…guess what? Reaching Out to Your Neighbors! Might be time to bake some cookies.
Also, God can and does use people to speak to us. He may directly give someone a word for you, or they may just begin to talk about something you’ve been reading about on your own. Sometimes, someone will share a struggle or victory and it applies to your life at the moment.
How often I have sat in church, feeling so excited -even in times of conviction- because the pastor is speaking on a subject I’ve been running into all week.
Another way I have been blessed is through devotional books and bible studies. Just yesterday, I was a few days behind in my marriage book and when I went to do they study, the day I’d left off on applied perfectly to what God had been putting on my heart the last few days.
Later in the day, when I talked to my mom about the lesson God gave me regarding putting margin in my life and how it related to my ministry choices, she cried, “Read Oswald Chambers for today!” As soon as we were off the phone, I read My Utmost for His Highest, March 5. Yep. Perfect.
When these kinds of coincidences go on for days, or weeks, it’s easy to feel foolish for not catching on right away, or convicted for being so stubborn. However, I would rather focus on how great it feels to be so loved by God that He just keeps on going after me!
It is exhilarating to know that God knows me, no matter how many times I realize this.
Angela Mills 
The last line is so telling.
It reminds me of that comedian I told you about who said that when he felt down he would hide in his closet and pop-out–just so that he could see how excited his dog would be to see him–each time.
This is how I, too, feel when I am awash in the wonder of God’s interest in my puny little life. Which of course is not really puny–