Is it coming at you from all angles?
Do you feel overwhelmed or overjoyed?
What is the message? Are you being told something?
Yep, that's my life right now. In listening to the daily podcast by Rick Warren, I heard the message, "Is it an obstacle or an opportunity?" How do I know when it is God speaking to me?
Then in my weekly women's group, we are reading Discerning the Voice of God, by Priscilla Shirer, and I heard the message, "Never think that the circumstances in your life have nothing to do with God's will. They have everything to do with it!"
That's all great, but sometimes those circumstances aren't always joyous. Sometimes they are obstacles and not opportunities. God will often place us on our back to get us to slow down enough to listen to him. Often times this happens at the most inopportune times -- when we are our busiest. I remember many years ago when my youngest son was a baby and had a few really bad bouts of RSV. It ALWAYS happened at the end of the month. Why does that matter? Well, I was in the auto industry, and you live and die on the last few days of the month. You had to be fully on, fully engaged and ready to give up your life for those final few days of the month. Yep, that is when God put me in a hospital room and said, "this is your priority."
Nothing is a coincidence. But, sometimes we need to be hit over the head multiple times to understand that God is speaking to us. Sometimes we just have to slow ourselves down long enough to actually listen. Be still. Wait. (see my post: "I Prayed God, Now What?")
Priscilla goes on to say, "When you are seeking His guidance, you should always reflect on the events the Lord is allowing to occur in your life. Persistent, internal inklings matched by external confirmation is often the way God directs believers into His will."
He wants us to shut up and listen. Regardless of whether or not it is an obstacle or an opportunity, there is a lesson in everything. EVERYTHING.
It isn't a coincidence that I keep hearing the same theme of messaging from different sources. I have been too busy this week and haven't been still. I need to sit down and listen before God plops me on my back and makes me listen, since he has "spoken" more than twice as Psalm 62 states.
Is God prompting you with multiple coincidences? Don't ignore them. He wants your attention.
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