HEARING FROM GOD - Part 1 by Diann Thomas

HEARING FROM GOD - Part 1 by Diann Thomas, The Morning Tea

"Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening" 1 Samuel 3:9 (NIV)

Some of us are reluctant to open ourselves to God's leading.  Why?  Because we know people who claim to be doing this, but their approach scares us.  These people seem to have performed a kind of intellectual lobotomy on themselves; now they expect God to choose their socks in the morning and their restaurant for dinner.  They claim to experience a leading an hour, a vision a day, a miracle a week.  In reaction to this, some of us run in the opposite direction.

To us, the Holy Spirit's promptings seem to go against human nature and conventional thoughts.  Accustomed to steering our own ship, we are squeamish about letting Him lead..  We wish the package was a little neater; it seems too illusive and mysterious.  It unnerves us.  Sowhen we sense the Spirit is leading, we resist it, analyze it, and conclude it is not logical; therefore we do not pay attention to it.  What a loss!

Some of us want to obey the Spirit, but we are not sure we know when He is really speaking.  'Am I hearing my own desires or God's voice?'  Not wanting to go off the deep end, we avoid the water altogether.  All these reactions are understandable.  We have all experienced them. 

Yet Paul writes,'Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit' (Galatians 5:25 NIV).  When you fail to open yourself to God's Spirit and keep in step with Him, your Christian life becomes cerebral, boring, and worst of all -- unfruitful.  Do not let that happen to you!