God talks to His children throughout the day, but do we listen? Communication is two way. If two people are both talking, and neither is listening, there is no communication between them, and neither knows what the other is saying, because they are both too busy talking to do any listening.
Do you talk to God throughout your day? Do you take the time to listen to Him when He answers you? God enjoys talking to us, too. And I think it must sadden Him greatly when we ignore Him.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve talked to myself – all day, every day. At age 17, I accepted Jesus into my heart as my Savior, and immediately, I quit talking to myself and started talking to God. And God often responds. Not audibly. He speaks in a still, small voice that comes in the form of a thought, and if you’re not listening for it, you’ll miss it. So when I say that God spoke to me, that’s what I’m talking about; not an audible voice.
God’s commands have helped me mature in life. When I was first married, if I didn’t get my way about something, I pouted big time. One day, God said to me, “Knock it off!” Sometimes, God has to raise His voice to get our attention. I never pouted again. I matured some that day.
God’s instruction has guided me toward spiritual maturity. When I was young in the Lord, He started dealing with me about my need to be baptized, but I resisted. In fact, I downright argued with Him. I said, “Lord, I was already baptized.” God replied, “Marj, you were baptized because they dragged you to the front and dunked you. Now, do it for Me.” I couldn’t argue with that, so I willingly got re-baptized. Later, I realized that I wasn’t even saved the first time I got baptized.
God’s warning has kept me from injury. One day, I was following Floyd to the car dealership. Just as he passed a metro bus stopped at a bus stop, God said to me, “Watch that bus. It’s going to pull out right in front of you.” The instant I heard His voice, I hit the brake, and the bus pulled out right in front of me. Had the Lord not warned me, the bus would have run into my car as I was passing it.
And sometimes, God just responds to me. On my way home one day, I was exiting the freeway. The west-bound off-ramp circled around and put me onto the main road without having to turn either direction, and my light was green. But a box truck sitting at the red light of the east-bound freeway off-ramp decided to make a right-hand turn directly in front of me without yielding to on-coming traffic. Still moving at about 40 mph, with no more than two car lengths between me and that truck, without an opportunity to see if the lane beside me was clear, I jumped over (praying I didn’t cause an accident), and shot by the guy who was just now starting to move forward. I said to God, “Oh, my gosh, Lord. What was that guy thinking?” God said, “He wasn’t.”
God enjoys talking to us as much as He enjoys it when we talk to Him. Do you ever talk to God just because He’s there? To show your gratitude for all He does for you? To share a concern or idea with Him, like you would with your best friend? To ask Him for wisdom in making a decision that would please Him? When you talk to God, do you listen for His answer? Do you hear the voice of God? If not, it’s time that you start listening.