Are You Talkin' To Me?

I love how God shows up in the bible and talks to people. He shows up and there is no doubt who is doing the talking or who he is talking to. Sure, there are spots of disbelief; “You talkin’ to me?” I can only imagine the sarcasm in the reply “Um no…the guy behind you.”…knowing he is alone. I say this in jest because something similar has happened to me recently and it was not expected or understood.

He extended His blessing to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 “The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

He appeared to Moses through a burning bush in Exodus 3:2-4 “There an angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

He revealed himself in quietness to Elijah in 1Kings 19:11-13 “The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here Elijah?”

I can relate to Abraham because we found ourselves in similar circumstances last February. We felt drawn to expand our territories and move to our promised land even though we didn’t know where that was or what to expect when we got there. It was a scary place to be; not physically but spiritually. My husband and I looked at each other and said “But we’re new at this. We don’t know how to do anything. Where will the money come from? What about our stuff? What about the people we actually know here and the good we think we are doing for them? If we downsize where will our kids stay if they decide to come back?” He moved us and he has blessed us; but taking the leap from what we think He is telling us… to acting on it…and then hoping we heard it the right way are a series of steps we didn’t know how to take.

I love the obviousness of Moses’ experience and sometimes wish that He was more specific like that with us. If God came before any of us and told us to do something, I am certain that we would jump to our feet and do as he asked without question. But, even Moses questioned “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Exodus 3: 11-12

Yes…I feel this way too. And I loved that my friend Lynnette wondered the same thing in her blog today. “Who am I?” Feeling the heat when people ask “Who are you to write about things God says?” “What are your credentials?” (*Shameless Plug* Her blog is awesome by the way… check it out and follow along like I do. http://www.wellspringoflivingwater.blogspot.com/) Not only do we have these feelings, we can realize that we aren’t alone in our insecurities or angst to do His work. “For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10. Could this be the “Because I said so” answer to all of those ‘nay sayers’ that Satan throws in our paths?   Hmmmmm…..

It is His appearance to Elijah that hits closest to home because it is so unexpected. Like the old adage says, “While waiting for a big miracle, you may miss all of the small ones along the way.” God wasn’t in the earth, wind, or fire but in a quiet whisper. I pray. I scream, I cry, I doubt, I yell, I worry. I pray.

But do I listen?

Do I wait in the silence?

Do I give him time to respond and truly realize that He isn’t going to appear in a burning bush to me or show up on my doorstep with a list of things I need to do?

Do I listen?

Am I quicker to hear God’s responses when it is confirmation of the answer I want?

Do I act on what he asks of me?

A few weeks ago I was praying and the name “Karen” came to mind. I go through my list of daily prayers and hear again “Karen is Hurting.” I have never heard anything so clearly yet I continued to pray and then went about my day; ignoring the hum of Karen throughout it. It would be great if I were watching a game show and it were obvious to me that a friend I have, named Karen, needed prayer. Here is the caveat; I know more than one Karen…and a Carrie. Uh oh. So, I did nothing until I heard it again, and again. I was even reading a book where a Karen was introduced. So finally I got it. I began praying for my two Karens and a Carrie; not knowing what their needs were or if any or all of them were hurting…but He knew their needs and he knew that they needed prayer and that was all I needed to know.

My first experience at my new church after moving was a bible study on Margaret Feinberg’s book “The Sacred Echo.” I read the entire book in two days with pen and highlighter in hand and was excited to participate until the day before the study began. Satan creeped in and mumbled in my ear; “They are more Christian than you are and have been at it a lot longer. What do you have to offer? Do you think they want someone with your past as part of their group?” The book was amazing but instead of focusing on all of the parts affirming God’s presence everywhere; people we meet, books we read, music we hear….I panicked about what a new group of women would think of me. I almost didn’t go to that first day and I don’t know how my Christian life would be if I had acted on Satan’s warnings….and stayed home.

My very first morning as part of the study proved that God can speak to us anywhere and through anyone; even strangers. All of my friends that I have now; are from that group and the relationships shared through them. We have all experienced “echoes” from each other and affirmation that each of us was exactly where we were supposed to be exactly when we were supposed to be there. I wasn’t able to participate in the latest bible study because we were 2500 miles apart but we have continued to be in contact and I have been blessed enough to be introduced virtually to a few more that God has added to our group; expanding the cast of characters that He wants in the book he continues to write.

He may not put up marquees telling us to be on the lookout for messages but we have a bible full of proof that he does communicate with us and he uses many different ways in which to do so. Are you listening?