Listening...

It amazes me how God teaches us outside of the Holy Bible. When we learn to hear His voice, and we obey, we are blessed to learn more about His glory.

I had been learning to recognize God’s voice in my daily activities, giving me guidance on how to handle issues as well as what to do and not do in decision making. Nothing loud or disturbing, just a thought that quietly speaks to me.

1 Kings 19:11-12 King James Version (KJV)

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

I was doing some work for a friend that want me to help them get social media exposure for their business. I agreed to begin receiving a small payment that would increase as their business with my help grew. Accepting this assignment meant that I would have to have to commit to a 2-hour morning and a 2-hour evening daily commute. Leaving home at 5:30AM each day and crossing the street to catch a bus became the norm.

This morning as I watched the traffic light turned red, allowing me to cross the street. As I began to walk I heard a soft voice say stop, and I did...just as a car came from my left speeding through the red light. Looking to my left to make sure nothing was coming, I preceded to walk and again heard stop, and I did...just as a car came from the right, also running the red light.

Once across the street I heard “you did not have to stop because God would have not let you be hit by either car”, to which I thought God knew that I would obey His voice.

Many times, in our lives God has protected us from dangers seen and unseen, things we may not have even given any thought to...until we accepted Christ and became saved.

I was reminded of an incident that occurred when I was much younger and being shown how to ride a snowmobile. Quite a bit of snow had fallen and someone I considered to be a friend asked me if I wanted learn to ride a snowmobile and I said yes. I was seated in the front while he sat behind me and explained what the controls did as he drove around the property. I was excited, having never ridden a snowmobile before. Still, I’d noticed he was circling a small area and slowing down at the same spot several times. He suddenly sped up and headed towards the area where he had slowed down which turned out to be a huge drop-off. The front of the snowmobile dropped down and my chin hit the windshield and once we were flat on the snow my friend was visibly shaken and asking if I was okay. I said I was and only felt pain on my chin where it hit the windshield. He then drove back to the house and said we were heading in. I asked if I could stay out and ride the snowmobile a bit longer. It was fun. Many years later it was revealed to me that had my neck hit the windshield and not my chin, things would have gone a different way.

Hearing the voice of God is not a hard thing to do, one just need only believe that the Holy Spirit will never tell you to do something wrong.

John 4:49-50 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The royal official *said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”  Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.

Romans 10:17 King James Version (KJV)

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

A close friend had picked me up and we were heading to meet with family members to watch a stage performance my granddaughter would be in. God spoke to me with regards to this outing and I’ll share that later. When my friend said, he would have to stop at the bank to get money, I offered to give him $10 to help with gas and he could use the $10 for the admission. He agreed. Once there we met up with friends and family members and went inside. After getting our tickets I asked me if I had another $10 because his girlfriend was on her way and would need a ticket. I had another ten and gave it to him. We all enjoyed the performance

As we were heading to my house my friend said he had to stop at the bank. When he got out of the car to use the ATM I was told that when he gives me the $20 I had given him, I was to give him the $10 bill I had left in my wallet for gas. When he got back into the car I was handed more than $20. I took it and very loudly said what’s this? He handed me $80 and was a bit startled at my exclamation and being that it was not what I had been instructed on, I once again said what’s this? Then I heard my friend saying something, but I wasn’t talking to him, I was asking God for clarification. My friend was explaining that he was paying me for an external hard drive I’d given him a while ago as well as returning the $20 I’d given him earlier. As I let that sink in I understood what the money was for. $60 was for the cost of the hard drive and $20 for what I had given for the tickets. I was reminded to give the 10-dollar bill in my wallet to him for gas and I did. He probably thought I had lost my mind because of my outburst.