God Moments

Now, before I begin I just want to clear the air by s= aying, this is not a competition between my dad and me to see who writes a better sermon. Are we clear? Now that is settled…

At my age, I’m asked many questio= ns: “Where are you going to College?”, “What will your major be?”, “What career do you want to have?” These are all BIG questions, and f= or most, I don’t have an answer. It’s frustrating at times when I ask God these questions, and I still feel like I haven’t heard an answer.

For some, He may not have revealed it t= o me yet, but for others, maybe I’m just not hearing Him clearly. Often, I hear people say they were called to do this or they felt led to do that, but what does that mean exac= tly, or rather, what does that sound like, these “calls”.

And why is it that these “calls” I hear about are usually only for the BIG questions in life, questions regarding careers, marriage, a move, or some other signific= ant life altering situation. Keep= ing all of this in mind I see two problems:

1.) Why are we as Christians not seeking out God’s call for our everyday lives, instead= of just those BIG question times,

a= nd

2.) Why do some o= f us feel like we don’t hear God’s voice? Why don’t we recognize those moments throughout our day when God calls us?

In regard to the first problem, God is always calling us, he never stops speaking, so it’s important for us to seek out his voice daily, we just have to learn how to recognize it. When it comes to hearing and recog= nizing God’s voice, we must learn to be aware of all the many ways he calls us. If we know the different = ways He communicates, we may be more likely to pay attention throughout our day = and recognize those God moments. = We are not the only ones who have struggled to recognize God’s call. Please turn with me now to 1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-21

“The boy Samuel served the Lord under Eli. In those days the Lord did not speak directly to people very often; there were very few visions.

Eli’s eyes were so weak he was almost blind.&nbs= p; One night he was lying in bed. Samuel was also in bed in the Lord’s house, where the Ark of Agreement was. God’s la= mp was still burning.

Then the Lord called Samuel, and Samuel answered, ‘I am here!’ He ran to Eli and said, ‘I am here. You called me.’

But Eli said, ‘I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.’ So Samuel = went back to bed. The Lord called = again, ‘Samuel!’ S= amuel again went to Eli and said, ‘I am here. You called me.’

Again Eli said, ‘I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.’ Samuel did= not yet know the Lord and the Lord had not spoken directly to him yet. The Lord called Samuel for the thi= rd time. Samuel got up and went = to Eli and said, ‘I am here. You called me.’

Then Eli realized the Lord was calling the boy.= So he told Samuel, ‘Go to bed. If he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord. I am your servant and I am listening.’ So Samuel went and lay down in bed.

The Lord came and stood there and called as he had before, ‘Samuel, Samuel!’ Samuel s= aid, ‘Speak, Lord, I am your servant and I am listening.’=

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up; he did not let any of Samuel’s messages fail to come true. T= hen all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew Samuel was a true prophet of the Lo= rd. And the Lord continued to show him= self at Shiloh, and he showed himself to Samuel through his word.”

Samuel actually heard God’s voice but did not recognize it until the fourth time God called him. It took Samuel a few tries before = he knew it was God whom he heard, and it may take us some time, maybe a few le= aps of faith, before we recognize God’s calls.

God may not audibly speak to us today but there are many other ways he guides us throughout our everyday li= ves; through His Word, the Holy Spirit, circumstances, people, prayer, impressio= ns, signs, opening and closing doors, dreams… and the list goes on and on. It’s kind of like t= oday how we communicate; we have home phones, iPhones, blackberries, text messages, web cams, email, snail mail, and oh occasional= ly we talk directly in person too.

In verse 21 it says, “And = the Lord continued to show himself at Shiloh, and he showed himself to Samuel through his word.” Samuel had the audible word of God= and today we have the written word of God.&nbs= p; This is one of the clearest ways God calls us today. There is no question about who is speaking through the Bible. <= o:p>

This is why spending time in the word daily is so important. T= he words from our Bibles are from God, and this we can be sure of. When we seek guidance from God by = reading his word, we don’t have to deal with the frustration we face from hea= ring so many voices, having so many thoughts, that we don’t know which one= is God’s.

We also don’t have the pro= blem of hearing no voice at all. G= od speaks to us, guiding us, directly through His Word. Have you ever been reading your Bi= ble and come across a verse or passage that just gave you a calming sense of pe= ace and made you pause for that moment and reflect? Whether you realized it or not, th= at was probably God’s voice speaking to you through that passage, telling you just what you needed to hear. Or you might be reading a story in your Bible and realize the parallels and ho= w it coincides with your own life.

And maybe, after making these connections you have a sudden urge from deep within to do something in your life you haven’t thought of or seen the need for before that moment.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Be aware of those moments because they’re God moments. God is speaking to you, guiding yo= u for the day ahead, in moments like those. When you’re spending time in God’s word listen for his v= oice and learn to recognize it, because he is speaking.

Another very important way God chooses to guide us each day is through His Holy Spirit that lives within us. If we are to ever recogni= ze God’s calls we must become spiritual people. In 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 = it says, “But as it is written = in the Scriptures: No one has ever seen this, and no one has ever heard about it. = No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. But God has shown us these things through the Spirit. The Spirit searches out all things, even the deep secrets of God. Who knows the thoughts that another person has? Only a personR= 17;s spirit that lives within him knows his thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows the thoughts of God e= xcept the Spirit of God. Now we did= not receive the spirit of the world, but we received the Spirit that is from Go= d so that we can know all that God has given us. And we speak about these things, n= ot with words taught us by human wisdom but with words taught us by the Spirit. And so we explain spi= ritual truths to spiritual people. A person who does not have the Spirit does not accept the truths that come fr= om the Spirit of God. That person thinks they are foolish and cannot understand them, because they can only be judged to be true by the Spirit.”&nb= sp;

The Holy Spirit gives us the wis= dom of God! Yes, as Christians we= know the Spirit dwells within us, and we’ve heard this many times before.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> But let this sink in today, “= ;No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we did not receive the spirit = of the world, but we received the Spirit that is from God so that we can know all = that God has given us.”

God created a way to communicate= his thoughts, his wisdom, and his plans within our own hearts and minds. Every moment of every day, the wis= dom of God is within us, guiding us through our thoughts and feelings. If we come closer to God, if we be= come more in tune to His Spirit within us, we will recognize which thoughts and feelings are from the Spirit and which ones are not.

If we take time to seek, to list= en, and be aware during our most normal of days, not just those BIG question ti= mes, we might find that the Holy Spirit is calling us to share an encouraging wo= rd with someone, make an unexpected change of plans, or simply tweak our lives= in some small way. The Holy Spirit’s call to action may be so small, seem so insignificant to us, that we could easily miss it if we don’t listen and recognize the sou= rce.

Another important communication route God uses is other people. We see this through the passage we read earlier. Samuel did not yet recognize God, = but Eli did. Eli told Samuel that= God called him and to be ready to listen the next time He spoke. Because of Eli, Samuel was ready t= he next time God called.

From that point on, Samuel conti= nued to listen to God and obey. Th= e same can be true in our lives; God can use other people to get his message throu= gh to you. A lot of times, we don’t think to listen for God through other people because that would mean he’s speaking our own language, our own dialect. We think this is too ordinary, God’s call must be divine, so we easily miss the message.

Alright, I’m about to go a little nerdy on you here, just bear with me. At the beginning of my senior year= my calculus teacher asked me if I wanted to move from AP Calculus AB to Calcul= us BC. I was shocked, flattered,= and scared at the same time. In C= alculus BC you learn twice as much as you would in Calculus AB and it counts as 8 credit hours as opposed to four. I was scared I couldn’t handle it and was hesitant to change the awesome schedule I already had. =

For many this might be an easy decision but for me, miss indecisive, it was not. I prayed for God to lead me and gi= ve me some sort of sign, I asked my parents about it, and I asked my friends who = were definitely taking BC about it. The night before I had to make my decision, I went to Walgreens for some last minute school supplies. While= I was there I called mom to ask her for the umpteenth time if I should take BC Ca= lc or not.

As soon as I asked her that question, in walks one of my friends who was in the BC class. She comes up to me to talk and ask= s, “So are you going to take BC? You really should!” And in my mind it just clicked, I had the thought, “Here’= ;s your sign, Katie.” Afte= r that I knew my decision, I knew where God was leading me. I was still scared about what was = to come in BC Calculus, but I felt at peace with my decision.

Another time, God spoke to me through Chase Wentzky. One Wednesday night at church I was talking to Chase who had just gotten a new Bible. He was showing it to m= e and said “take a look at this.” He pointed out James 4:8 “Come near to God, and God will come = near to you.” I hadn’t= told Chase this, but when he pointed out that verse I got chills. See, this was a verse I had discov= ered earlier in the year during some personal quiet time in my Bible. I had it underlined and starred; it meant a lot to me.

And months later, here is Chase pointing out that verse. My thoughts went directly to God.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I realized how caught up I had bec= ome in the stresses of senior year and those BIG questions I had about college and majors. I realized how much I= had drifted from God and ignored him. God was telling me to come back.&nb= sp; He uses other people all the time to get our attention. When someone says something to you= , it may mean nothing to them, but you suddenly feel a rush of emotions or think, “how did they know”, that could be a God moment. Listen, be aware, and recognize th= ose calls. God is speaking.

There are so many other ways that G= od calls us, and I could spend all day going through the list, but I won’= ;t. There is, however, one more method= I would like to touch on: circumstances and experiences. God can use anything from a horrib= le circumstance to the most incredible experience you’ve ever had to gui= de you.

As many of you know, our youth g= roup took a trip to Mexico a little over a year ago. Before the Mexico mission trip, I thought I was doing ok in my walk with God. I knew I really needed to spend mo= re time alone with God and my Bible but apart from that I thought I was doing = ok, right? I mean it wasn’t= like I was out all hours of the night being a rebellious teenager doing question= able things. I wasn’t one of= those preacher’s kids, if yo= u know what I mean.

I was at a standstill, I wasn’t growing. Well, t= hen I went to Mexico. My eyes were = opened wide and I saw fully for the first time what it really looked like to follow God with all your heart. My experiences in Mexico showed me how much more I could be doing, that I shou= ld be doing, to bring glory to God.

The people I met in Mexico were = true servants. God’s love was pouring out of them and filled our youth in a way we hadn’t experienc= ed before. We knew when we got b= ack that we had work to do, and we still have work to do. Yeah, God definitely speaks through circumstances.

Whether you recognize Him or not, you hear God every day. If you could see on your cell phone how many times God has called you, how many mi= ssed calls would you have daily? P= ray to God and ask him to guide you each day.&nbs= p; Ask him to help you recognize his voice and he will help you, because unlike us, God has no missed calls.

Stop and listen for his still sm= all voice, in all the many ways it can come to you. Listen for his voice even when you aren’t at any BIG question moments in your life. It may take some time; you may sti= ll have moments of uncertainty about whom you’= ;re hearing, but ask yourself these questions: “Does what I hear contradi= ct the Bible? Does it come out o= f love? If I follow this voice will it bri= ng glory to God?” And it’s cliché but it still works, “What would Jesus do?” <= /span>

Continue to pray about this, spe= nd time in your Bible, search for God’s Spirit within you, and be aware = of those God moments. They happen every day, even on your most normal, routine days. For those of you who want to recog= nize God’s voice more clearly in your daily walk with Him, I leave you with this verse, “Come near to God, and God will come near to you.”<= o:p>