Listening to God

There's a friend of ours who, when enquiring how we are, often says "Things may be difficult, but are you moving?" By that he doesn't mean moving house, but moving with God. Are we working with what he is showing us in our circumstances and growing in the heart knowledge of His love and wisdom.

There have been periods in my life when I have felt stuck, when nothing seemed to be happening and the everyday problems and the humdrum loomed large. I wanted to hear from God but nothing came and God seemed to be nowhere.

The problem was with me of course. I had taken the back seat, not God. God was speaking, but I was just not hearing. There could be at least two reasons for this. I was not giving God the priority in my life that He deserves and seeking His heart response to me. Someone once said to me that he knew the Bible through and through and there was nothing new for Him. I felt very sad. He was a very intelligent man and had a tremendous knowledge in his head, but at that time his heart was closed to God. God's Word stands for all time and does not change. But if we are open to hear, He is always saying something new to us, that speaks right into our situation.

Maybe we don't hear because we are not in touch with our own hearts. This could be because we have closed an area of our lives to God or because we are just not in touch with our own feelings. When I have been in this situation I have given the Holy Spirit full permission to move me in those shutdown areas and emotions. His response has often been to heat up my spirit in a way as never before and get me focussed on Him. What I eventually hear may not be what I expect, it may be joyful or challenging, but it's always in love and always agreeing with His Word. This brings life and thrills me to the core.

It's good to be on the move again. It's life-changing.

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says - " Revelation 2:11 New International Version