Last night my men’s group took some time to get quiet and just listen for God to speak to them. After reading through Ephesians Chapters 1 & 2, I asked each of our 13 guys to leave the room and go outside to find a place where they could ask God some leading questions:
Why am I going on this walk?
What am I doing?
What do you want to say to me?
What do you want to show me?
How do you see me?
Where am I going?
What should I do next?
Each of these guys did their own thing and they had about 20 minutes to do that thing. Some guys took a walk. Some guys went out to their cars and just sat. Some guys headed for the woods. A saw one guy climb a tree and sit in it. I went off on my own walk and began to ask God those very questions.
Within minutes He spoke to me and I feel like what He said might be something for you as well:
Stop being a pro.
Get to the place where you don’t know what’s going to happen next.
Stop being safe.
Display dangerous love for people.
Quit taking yourself so seriously.
Get back to the story.
Take some time to ask those same questions and remember that this isn’t drive-thru Jesus. We can’t command God to speak to us within 30 seconds and have it “our way” – sometimes it takes longer, and sometimes we don’t get anything at all. But I’ve got a feeling that if we get quiet and ask some honest questions – you’ll get some answers. I’d love to hear what He is saying to you.
Ive been asking but not getting answers here for awhile…
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Beautiful post and a beautiful photo.
I will have to remember today to take a moment, be patient, and listen
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I’ve been asking and listening for a while too. I think I have some answers, now I have to act which I’m finding increasingly difficult to do. Would be interested in any thoughts on that. Have you experienced a state of “stage fright” or “gun shyness” when you know what you want to do but somehow are paralyzed to jump in and do it?
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jennibell says:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:48 am
@Jenny Vaillancourt, Yes!!! I feel like if you are at that point you are RIGHT where He wants you. Complete and total trust in Him. It’s a scary, awesome, amazing place to be. And remember, the answer, the direction, isn’t always immediate. . .keep listening to His voice. . .He *will* lead.
You did say “when you know what you want to do”. . .what you want or what He is asking you to do? There is a difference. . .
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What God sometimes tell us to do is quite terrifying…spectacular, but terrifying.
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Good stuff-challenging and thought provoking as always. I’ve just started reading “crazy love” (francis chan) and am currently working through what it means for my life to be all about God, rather than about me. When you think about the greatness of God, it’s rather mind blowing that He even wants to use us, so why on earth aren’t I more in tune with what He wants – and what He’s doing – rather than being so consumed by my own junk?
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I’m definitely feeling points two and three.
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…but how do you know it’s God’s voice you’re hearing and not just my own subconsious or the voice of evil?
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Kelly says:
July 6th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
@Betty M,
This is such a common question, and since it’s not been answered yet, I’ll take a stab. It’s so easy for doubt to come in, and rob you of truth, even after you knew that you knew it was God. I have a friend who is experiencing that frustrating stage right now.
Where were you when you “hear” Him? Did you get goosebumps, or a rapid pulse, or butterflies in your stomach? Sometimes those are physical signs of the Holy Spirit moving in you. It may sound weird, but it works. Seriously.
I would recommend journaling it. Write down what you felt God said to you. Then wait. Do you hear it again? What else does he say in the days, weeks, months following?
Does it line up with God’s word, or does it contradict? If there’s no place in the word that talks about your particular situation, read the Word more, ask God for confirmation, and He will “send you more signs” or whatever. Sometimes thru a song, a sermon, a scripture, etc. You will probably hear the message repeated somewhere else.
Don’t be so quick to doubt. This is where faith and trust in God come in. That’s probably the hardest part.
Once you “practice” listening and hearing God, you will become more confident in Him speaking. ANd don’t fear the getting-it-wrong thing. He’s got grace for that. We’re human. He doesn’t expect more than that from us.
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I certainly appreciate what you were trying to do. But it’s been my experience that God doesn’t answer me when I ask questions. A handful of times, yes, He has, but only a handful. And I’ve asked Him many, many times if there was something he wanted to tell me or show me — I’ve *never* gotten an answer to that one.
As much as God wants to be in communication with us, he’s not an “on demand” God. He’s the one who determines when he needs to tell us something, not us. If I suspect God is indeed trying to tell me something, I need a while to reflect and make sure it was God I heard, not my own subconscious.
As someone who struggled badly in my relationship with God for a number of years, I can think of a time not too long ago when being part of a group and getting an “assignment” like that would have only reinforced the contempt I had for God. Had I not heard anything during my 20 minutes, and then returned to a group where everyone else thought they had heard something, I would have come away with the idea that God doesn’t like me much and doesn’t especially want to talk to me.
It took me a long time to learn that my experience with God doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s. That’s why activities like this — where everyone does the same thing and is expected to get the same result — make me nervous.
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jennibell says:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:52 am
@MaryL, You know, I don’t think everyone was supposed to get the same answers, the same results. I think that, being humans, we have to put time limits and such on things like this when we are in group settings. Ryan, I would be interested to know if some didn’t come away with anything. Sometimes this is just the starting point. I once heard something and it changed everything for me. . .God has many blessings just waiting for us but first we have to ask. How sad would it be to get to Heaven one day and see His plan for us but we forgot to ask, communicate, and walk forward. Mary, start in His Word and you might not “hear” Him in “voices” but maybe through other people, or maybe He’ll wake you up in the middle of the night with a thought, or maybe, just maybe, there will be a quiet stillness in your heart that could *only* come from our Living, Breathing, God.
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My challenge is not in getting away and asking the questions, but in being ready to hear the answers. Sometimes God is whispering and I’m too focused on something else to hear it.
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I love this post and the sentiment behind it. One of my favorite lines from a movie is: Safety is the greatest risk of all. It doesn’t leave room for miracles.
It is something I live by, much to the horror of my friends and family. God never asked me to be safe, he asked me to be faithful, and so I shall.
Thanks for the confirmation.
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I have not been “quiet” enough lately – I don’t make the time. I study regularly with my children, but taking time for actual meditation and prayer by myself is very scarce with three small children. And yet I have been struck lately how, even in these busy days, I have noticed that we have repeatedly made unexpected connections with our neighbors – usually through these very children that take so much time and energy – and have been given opportunities to befriend them and even minister to them in very personal ways. It turns out to be a blessing all around.
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Awesome post – I think I may have to have the guys in my group try this here next week. I like how you mentioned that this isn’t drive-thru Jesus, because I think a lot of people expect to get answers in about a minute or less honestly. We’ve got to take time and listen.
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“Display dangerous love” Love that!
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Thanks Ryan.
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This is somewhat off-topic, but I read this article, and thought of your church & its ministry of reconciliation: http://www.timschraeder.com/2010/06/30/a-different-kind-of-demonstration-at-gay-pride/
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This is a great one!
I think that we stop and listen too seldomly. Many times we stop to pray when it’s okay to us and even then only for a minute or too as we have something more important waiting. Even if we pray and bring everything to the Lord, we forget to keep still and listen to His answer. I guess we all need a reminder of stopping and listening from time to time!
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I think you should do more photo classes
*ahem* may i suggest a Nikon d80?
no reason of course, *ahem*…not like i own it or anything…
not like i don’t know how to work it or anything…
not like my manual is of NO help whatsoever or anything…
you get the point..
so pretty please?
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I’m with Onsia. More photo classes but specific to the Nikon d60. Not like I own one…not like I know anything about how to work it…not like my manual is teaching me anything and can’t take a class to save my life in the town I live in.
I do love your words of wisdom though and you always get me thinking.
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Thanks for your questions. I just returned from a 10 day missions trip (with 19 teenagers) to Honduras, and what I have is this:
Keep your personal life clean, and above the world.
But at the same time He is telling me that I need to
dive in with those around me and reach the lost.
There are so many lost, damaged people that need restoration, it is irresponsible to stand idly by.
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