The Art of Listening

I love how God knows what we're going to face before we do. At the beginning of the year, God told me, "You are going to happy, because you're obedient." 

This was one of those things that I wrote down, hoping that Jesus knew what He was talking about because I honestly had no idea. At the time I didn't know what new things He was going to teach me. In the past few months, the Lord has tenderly spoke to me, and begun to teach me what it means to be an obedient follower of Jesus who knows His voice. 

Now, by no means do I have that figured out. There's an infinite amount of things I still don't know. But something I do know and am completely certain of, is that God is faithful. Something that Jesus has shown me recently is that, despite our decisions, He will never stop loving us. His pursuit is relentless. How lucky are we. 

A few months ago, I would have told you I wasn't hearing from God. That I didn't know what He was telling me to do. But the funny thing is, looking back, I've never heard from God more in my entire life. I knew exactly what He wanted me to do. But I was too afraid, too safe and too comfortable, to say yes, and trust what He had for me. I was going to do it my way. At the time, I couldn't make sense of anything. Nothing was connecting. I was questioning things I had previously known to be true. There was a persistent war going on in my mind. For me, this was the first sign. I knew I wasn't doing what God wanted. It breaks my heart to say it, but this was the first time in my life that I've been angry at God. I was angry at God, because He was simply trying to protect me. I was angry at God because I didn't understand what He was doing. 

Even though this has resulted in the hardest season of my life so far, I am beyond thankful. I'm not really sure how He did it, but because of His grace and mercy I am able to say that He woke me up. He opened my eyes. He inclined my ears to listen. My reason in sharing this story is not to glorify what I did. This is all about Jesus. This is about how He pursued me, made himself clear and offered me endless grace.

And my hope is, that if you're in a similar situation, you'll recognize that He's doing the exact same thing for you. 

"After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't know his voice." 

- John 10-4

"He learned obedience from the things He suffered." - Hebrews 5:8


Join me, and pray this prayer this week:
Jesus, I'm thankful for your grace. I'm thankful for your relentless call on my life. I'm thankful that you're after me. I pray that I will be inclined to listen to your voice. I pray that you will make yourself clear to me. I want to hear from you, Jesus. You are so good. I want to be obedient. I want to say yes to whatever you're doing, even if I don't understand. Soften my heart. I want to know your voice. I want to know you. I will not follow the voice of another. You have my heart, God. You have my attention. 
Amen. 

Song of the Week:
The Voyage - Amanda Cook