Hearing From God

It is my desire to hear from God. If God doesn't speak, what is the point? Without his direction then it is just mine, which is what I did before salvation.

God is speaking but am I listening, that is the question. I have never been of the mindset that He wasn't speaking or trying to direct and influence me. I have struggled with how do I know it is God, how does he direct?

It is good practice for me to stop and evaluate where I am and bring back to mind what I know from time to time. There are times where there is a "check" in my spirit that the Holy Spirit provides to either stop me or nudge me on. These occur as I "walk" with God. Walk in the spirit during those times of spiritual closeness and His presence. They are almost a whisper because you have to be close to hear a whisper.

There are times when god speaks to me through his word either in a spirit of conviction or encouragement. Sometimes just through enlightenment. These are wonderful times but they require that I submit and yield time to be in His word. They require that I make a commitment to his word and listening to Him.

But I think when I hear the phrase "hearing from God" the thought that most often comes to mind, and the area I have the greatest difficulty with is when it is a matter of direction and leadership. Maybe because it requires as a very starting point that I am in close fellowshipship with God and requires that I am walking in the spirit. But with those things as givens, then what?

My devotion today had an illustration from F. B. Myers.

One night as the famous Bible teacher F. B. Meyer stood on the deck of a ship approaching land, he wondered how the crew knew when and how to safely steer to the dock. It was a stormy night, and visibility was low. Meyer, standing on the bridge and peering through the window, asked "Captain, how do you know when to turn this ship into that narrow harbor?"

"That's an art," replied the captain. "Do you see those three red lights on the shore? When they're all in a straight line I go right in!"

Later Meyer said: "When we want to know God's will, there are three things which always occur: the inward impulse, the Word of God, and the trend of circumstances. Never act until these three things agree."

I will consider this today and work on making application of this principle as we look at future plans for Crossover. Lord, speak to me and I will listen.

Pastor Rick