Are You Listening?

I was reading Exodus 3 & 4 earlier this week.  This is where Moses encounters the burning bush.  For the longest time I have been intrigued by this moment.  It has gone way beyond an entertaining VBS story in my life.  It amazes me.  It baffles me.

To be honest, I have struggled with this chunk of God’s Word – not with its reliability but with my personal encounters with God.  For the longest time I would read this and get frustrated because I wanted God to communicate to me like that.  I even prayed for it – to hear the audible voice of God.  I wanted so bad to wake up one morning, stumble out of bed, and find a burning bush on my way to the bathroom where God would audible tell me what to do with my life and give me specific instructions.  Have you ever wanted this?

As I have grown and matured more in my faith, I understand more why God did not answer my prayers.  Do I believe it is possible?  Absolutely, with God all things are possible.  However, I believe God was calling me to have more faith and broaden my horizon of how I listened to Him.

I learned during that process that God does communicate to you and me on a consistent basis (probably more than we can ever realize).  I have learned to listen better.  I have learned that there are many “burning bushes” – instruments of God’s voice – in my life.  Here are four ways that I now listen to God’s voice:

• Through people – I hear God’s voice through mentors who I trust, through close friends who know me and love me, through the teens I work with, and even through strangers.  Some of you reading this right now have probably been used by God to speak a God-given, truth-filled word to me. 
• Through doors opening & closing – God often communicates to us through Him opening and closing specific doors in my life.  I know God has called me to be the youth minister in Fairfield.  One of the reasons I know that is because He opened a door for me to do that.  God has not called me to be the starting right fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers because He has not opened that door in my life.
• Through God’s Word- In my season of praying and being frustrated with not hearing God’s voice, I had a light-bulb moment where I finally understood that the book that too often sat on my bookshelf collecting dust had God-breathed words for me.  The Bible is one major way God communicates to us today.  It is not some old history book, but a divine book that gives light and speaks truth.
• Through peace- I hear God’s voice through feeling peace – especially during times when I should not feel peace.  It is like He is gently whispering, “thata boy!”

How about you?  How do you listen to God’s voice?  What are the “burning bushes” in your life right now?  I would love to hear how you translate the voice of God in your life because I know I can learn from you.  Finally, if you are struggling right now – like I did and like so many others do – with not hearing God’s voice in your life, do not be discouraged.  He is there.  Maybe the problem is not that God is not talking, but maybe we are not really listening…