God Cogs - did you hear something?

Confession: this is not the original post that I wrote for today. As a matter of fact, there was another one up for almost 4 ½ hours before I took it down. Perhaps you read it.

There was nothing wrong with the first post, except for the fact that it kept haunting me. There was something I was missing or not communicating correctly and I had this nagging feeling like I had jumped the gun and need to think the issue through some more.

The internal restlessness produced another God Cog. If you’re new to the blog, every once in a while I get inspired to write about God’s ways, how He brings about relationship and transformation in my life.

Have you ever heard someone say, “God told me to…” or “When God spoke to me…” or “I felt prompted to…” or some variation of those phrases? I am often asked how it is I hear God or how does He speak to me, and last night’s twang of conscience reminded me of a few truths.

First of all, I have heard stories of people having WOW moments where lightning struck and a booming voice came out of the sky and gave them a clear message or instruction. I have never had a moment like that, but God has communicated with me, in my spirit, so plainly that it has been just as WOW.

If you want to hear God plainly, one of the best places to start is the Bible. It is the Story of God. We can get into a huge debate about its inerrancy if you want, but I believe it contains everything I need for the working out of my life with God. When I read the words of Jesus, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full,” He is telling me about His purposes and what He dreams for me – full life! If you’ve never read the Bible before, open it up to 1 John. John, the disciple that Jesus loved, starts by saying that he wrote all of these words simply because he knew Jesus personally and he wants to tell us what he experienced. It is very cool.

Once I chose to cooperate with God, I began to know Him. I began to see and hear everything differently. It became impossible to walk away from someone in need. I learned to listen beneath what people were saying, past their words right to their fears and hopes and hearts. Many times, throughout my life, God has directly spoken to me. It’s like an undeniable prompting or a thought I would not have had on my own, urging me to attend to something or someone. Often God just tells me how much He loves me (God is crazy about me, by the way) and I sense His pleasure and the deep peace of belonging to Him and having a life full of meaning. But I hear Him, in part, because I’m listening.

One more way that God speaks is through other people. Just this week, a beautiful woman that I met here in AZ, told me that I wasn’t really here to work on a video. Now, of course I am here to work on a video, but I have also talked with countless people about what they are feeling and how they are processing life around them while I’ve worked. When I was told that I was here to do more, I became alert to the possibility that someone may need my help AND that I may be here to be helped as well. God opened my mind through her words.

Communication with God is possible. God knows where you’ve been, accepts who you are, yet still, gently, invites you to grow. Step into grace and listen. I’ll bet He says something. He's crazy about you too.