Have you ever had an important message to tell someone,
but you could not get that person's undivided attention?
Perhaps you
thought, maybe I should try to communicate this at some later time, but
the urgency pressed you to keep trying.
G
od's messages to us are always important and
timely, and they deserve our complete attention. Why? He has charted a
perfect course for our life. Knowing the future completely, He sees when
our own plans do not align with His. When we begin to wander from His
course, He will take numerous measures to capture our attention and
protect us from harm.
As Christians, it is our responsibility
to be wise travelers, alert to our Master's voice as we journey through
life. We must walk in the Spirit, which means being receptive and
responsive to God's instruction, no matter how He chooses to speak. We
must know how to distinguish between His voice and the others that vie
for our attention—the opinions of our peers, rebellious attitudes, and
lust for what the world offers.
All too often, the Lord's wisdom is
muffled by the clamor of daily life. Some-times we start out with God's
agenda but get so far ahead of Him that we can no longer hear His voice.
Preferring to do things our own way, we lose contact with our only true
Guide.
God's objective in communicating with us
is that we become conformed to the image of His Son and express His love
to the world. He speaks primarily in four ways—through His Word, through
His Holy Spirit, through another person, and through the circumstances
in our life. Ideally, we should be so attuned to His voice that we hear
as soon as He speaks. If you have been a Christian long enough, you have
probably experienced this—when the Holy Spirit prompted you in the
middle of work or another activity, you sensed it right away and knew
exactly what to do.
Unfortunately, we are not always
spiritually alert. For such situations, God has a number of ways to help
us take notice.
[A Restless Spirit]
One of the simplest ways God gets our
attention is by making us restless. When King Ahasueruas was unable to
sleep, he ordered that the royal record books be read. As a result, he
discovered his life had been saved by Esther's uncle. In wanting to
honor Mordecai, the king unwittingly set in motion a chain of events
that caused Haman's planned annihilation of the Jews to be exposed. (Esther 6, 7)
The Jewish nation was spared because the king was alerted when
God gave him a restless spirit.
If you experience a restlessness deep
within—something you sense but cannot quite identify—the wise thing to
do is stop and pray, "Lord, are You trying to say something to me?" God
does not work the same way in everyone's life, but I believe His primary
method for getting my attention is by giving me a restlessness to show I
need a change of direction. As I reread my old journal entries, a
pattern emerges—each time God was about to move me from one pastorate to
another,
I would become very restless for a few
months. This is a very gentle method God uses to correct our course.
[A Spoken
Word]
A
second way God gets our attention is
by a word spoken through someone else. Wanting to give Eli a message,
the Lord woke the priest's young helper by calling his name. (1 Samuel 3:4-9) At first, the boy did not realize it
was the voice of God. Eli had to instruct him to listen carefully
because God had a special message for him. Young Samuel did not know the
Lord as deeply as did Eli, so God used the priest to pass along a word
of encouragement to the boy. In a similar way, God also had Eli's
attention for the forthcoming message He would deliver through Samuel.
(verses 11-18)
[An Unusual
Blessing]
A third way that God speaks is no doubt
the method that most people prefer: by blessing us in an unusual way.
The blessing might be related to home, work, spiritual growth, finances,
or health. But the Lord does not always choose this method.
For those who turn away and refuse to
depend upon Him, a lavish blessing would likely result in even greater
independence and self-centeredness—God would be totally ignored. If you
are an overly self-sufficient person, be aware that the Lord may use
some other method to get your focus onto Him. But remember that no
matter which method He uses to get our attention, it is, without
exception, an expression of His love.
[ Unanswered
Prayer]
The fourth method is not pleasant:
sometimes God will answer a prayer with "No." In 2 Samuel 12:16-18, David implored God to save his
infant son's life, but the child died. It is important to point out that
God loves everybody equally, but He has different purposes for each
life. The child's death was used to get David's attention in an extreme
situation involving the nation's leader and who deliberately acted
against the will of God.
Sin is one reason the Lord will use
unanswered prayer to get our attention. Even if what we pray may itself
be the will of God—perhaps even exactly what He wants to do—the Lord may
close the doors of heaven and refuse to answer that prayer as a way of
forcing us to examine ourselves. When necessary, God uses drastic
measures, but we must never take it upon ourselves to pass judgment
against fellow believers—that task belongs solely to the Lord.
[
Disappointment]
God will sometimes use disappointment to
get us to listen. In Numbers 14, the nation of Israel was poised at the
border of the Promised Land, ready to take possession of it. However,
their spy "committee" voted ten to two against possessing what God
promised to give them in battle. The Scripture describes His judgment
upon the nation for their unbelief. The people acknowledged that they
had indeed sinned, but had changed their mind and desired to enter the
land. However, the Lord said no—it was too late. While there must have
been a tremendous sense of disappointment and mourning, God certainly
had their attention. It was for their benefit that He revealed the error
of not trusting Him. In a similar way, God today allows setbacks to keep
us from charting our own course rather than doing His will.
[ Extraordinary
Circumstances]
Sometimes God will use bizarre or
unusual circumstances to get us to stop and listen. In Exodus 3:1, Moses saw a bush that was on fire but not
consumed. As he approached to investigate, the Lord spoke to Him from
the flame. You and I must learn to look for the presence of God in every
circumstance of life. He leaves His footprints and handiwork all around
us, and we will recognize them more often when we are watchful.
[Defeat]
Another method God uses is defeat.
Following the Lord's stunning victory over Jericho, the Israelites
approached the small town of Ai with overconfidence, and they neglected
to fight in God's strength or with His military plan. (Joshua 7) God got Joshua's attention by letting him
fail miserably. But notice there is a big difference between failing and
being a failure. A terrible defeat may prove to be the greatest
stepping-stone to success when we are wise enough to ask, "Lord, what
are You saying?"
[Financial Troubles]
In the book of Judges, "every man did
what was right in his own eyes" and the nation fell into idolatry and
disobedience. (Judges 17:6) God brought judgment through the Midianites, who devastated the land, leaving neither livestock nor
possessions. At what point did the Israelites finally cry out to the
Lord? When He took away every material belonging and drove the people
into caves and mountains to hide for their lives. (Judges 6:6) God knew exactly what it would take to get
their attention. And when they did turn to Him, He delivered them from
their oppressor and blessed them.
[Tragedy, Sickness, and Affliction]
While we must never look at someone
else's situation and presume why God allows a calamity, we should regard
our tragedies and afflictions as reasons to inquire of the Lord, "What
are You trying to say?" When King Hezekiah became prideful, God used
illness to alert him to the problem. (2 Chronicles 32:24) Similarly, when Saul of Tarsus was
persecuting Christians, he was stricken with blindness—then the Lord
certainly had his attention!
At any given
moment, God knows exactly where you are in your journey
and precisely what it will take to get your attention. So be alert;
notice if any of God's methods are occurring—or recurring—in your life.
Ask Him what He wants to tell you, and then listen, not simply to hear,
but to obey. God wants to communicate because of His love for you and
His desire to give you a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)