Plenty of people are shouting these days, literally or metaphorically. But God never shouts. God whispers. That's because He is so close to us, close enough to whisper in our ear, and He doesn't shout at His children whom He loves.
The intimacy that is available to us in Jesus is the most precious relationship we have. We think it's our spouse, our kids, or even our parents, but I want to challenge that for a moment.
God designed us in our mother's womb, He gave us our first breath, He accompanied us into every classroom we ever walked in, every car ride we've ever had, every job interview we've ever had, every hospital room we've ever been in, and absolutely every dark midnight hour we've had. He has never left our side.
Our lack of awareness or acknowledgement of Him in all of these scenarios doesn't change the fact that He has loved us through it all and simply wants us to love Him back. He is always there, cheering us on or holding us through the hard times. Why is it so hard for us to wrap our heads and hearts around that?
I think it is because we're so used to conditional love, the kind we have to earn. We fall into people pleasing, overachieving, or resorting to games to get others to love us. But intimacy with God is pure, simple, uncomplicated, and unconditional.
Once we become aware of this available intimacy with the One Who created us, and we understand how close He is to us each and every moment of the day, then we can become more sensitive to His voice.
He's always speaking and He doesn't want it to be hard for us to hear Him, especially on today's tough spiritual battleground. We need the clear direction of our leader to navigate this battle between good and evil, as well as His courage to stand strong.
There are three things we can do to dial in His "frequency" more clearly in our lives:
Pray and ask Him to help you hear Him. Prayer is the best form of intimacy with God. It doesn't need to be flowery or complicated...just honest. He wants to talk with you all day long. Just make sure you're not the one doing "all" the talking. :)
Read a translation of the Bible that is easy to understand and get to know Him through His word so that you will be able to discern His whisper and field incoming darts of deception. God will NEVER tell you to do anything that contradicts His word.
Ask Him to help you to become more obedient in your life. When He starts purging things from your life that need to go, cooperate with that process. It has been my experience that letting go of things I am holding too tightly, and surrendering them to God with absolute trust, is true freedom.
He guides our steps, our decisions, and every moment of our lives when we simply let Him. There is nothing you are facing today that He doesn't have some guidance for. He's a whisper away. What is He saying to you today?
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