I go running a few times a week. Lately, I’ve been going on a path around the YMCA on the north side of Fort Wayne. I normally run 2 laps, which turns out to be a little more than 3 miles. A few days ago Bethany and I had to drop one of our cars off at the shop. After taking her to work, I decided to go for my run while I was waiting on an estimate. Since I never run with my phone, I decided I would just check in with the shop after I finished my run.

I felt really good as I was finishing my first lap. Sometimes I really have to convince myself to push through and finish well, but it was a beautiful day outside and I was really enjoying the podcast I was listening to so there was no “breakthrough” necessary. Just as I was starting my second lap, a complete & random thought entered my mind. It was something like: “If you want to catch the phone call from the shop, you should stop your run.” It caught me off guard because I wasn’t thinking about the car and I wanted to continue my run. I’ve been learning over the last few years that one of the ways God communicates with me is through complete & random thoughts; often the opposite of what I want to do. I continued running for about 10-15 seconds until I decided to listen, stop my run & go to my phone.

I casually walked back to my car and saw that I had 1 missed call. As I was opening my phone to see who it was from, my phone vibrated to let me know that someone had just left me a message. It was the car shop. I had literally missed their call by 10-15 seconds.

I have always found it interesting that even though God had given the Israelites the Law, he continually exhorted them to listen to His voice. One example is Exodus 15:26 which says:

He (God) said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.”

Ever since the beginning of time, God has spoken to people. Actually, from the first page to the last, the Bible is jam packed with instances of God speaking directly to ordinary people like you and me.

Consider Hebrews 3:15:

As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”

And John 10:27

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Part of the wonderment of God is that He loves to communicate with His people. Not only has He given us His Word, but He continually speaks to lead, guide & protect us. I know many times I don’t take time to listen. In prayer, I’m eager to speak, but slow to be quiet and just sit before God.

I would imagine that when we were kids, the majority of us believed that our God speaks to us. It seemed natural at that age that an all-knowing & all-loving God who cared about us would take the time to tell us things. But for many of us, we grew up only to intellectually & theologically reason away the idea. We’ve shaped our paradigm based off experiences, lack of experiences, religious fanaticisms & abuses. If any of us have lost that child-like wonder, I think it’s time to take it back.

So I missed the call from the car shop by 10-15 seconds. No big deal; I just called them right back. Some might argue that since it really was of no consequence, it was probably just a random thought or a weird coincidence. After all, why would God direct me to be at my phone so I could take a call about my car? Simple really. If I learn my lesson and am able to listen for God when it doesn’t matter that much, I’ll be prepared for when it does. God doesn’t usually have us skip grades; we can’t make it to college unless we start in Kindergarten. There will be times in my life when success, my future, my health and maybe even my life will be dependant on whether or not I listen for God’s voice. I want to learn to listen even if I don’t understand why or deem the content important.

I want to show God that I love Him and honor Him by listening for His voice. Of course I’ll make mistakes along the way. We learn best by making mistakes. If God has something to say to me, then I want to position myself to hear it.

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks – Hebrews 12:25

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