Opening my ears

I cannot control the voice of God or how it comes. I can only control my "ears" - my readiness to listen and quickness to respond.   - Philip Yancey

Oh, these words. They describe my heart. As I am going through this wonderful book on discerning Christ's voice in my life, I have realized that I do indeed hear God's voice. And I long to hear Him more! But what I struggle with is obeying what I hear. 

So, as I started my new chapter this morning I felt like I needed to pray first. 

I prayed and then I listened. God spoke and told me that it would be a hard chapter. I was like, "Ok. Well, here we go."

I open the book and the writer says that this will be a hard chapter. There will be responsibility on my behalf to respond to what Christ tells me. Basically what she was saying is obedience. Christ will speak and you will have the choice of obeying, or not. 

!!!!!

That made me excited because just moments ago God had told me almost the same thing! He was showing me that He is speaking and is near to me, showing me what to do. He was also showing me that I have an issue with being told what to do. 

I have an idea of what my day will hold and when things don't go as planned

(in my head) I get frustrated. Little nuances can get me rolling my eyes and sighing loudly in annoyance. Pretty dang immature huh? 

So my prayer is that when I hear His voice, I would obey. And that I would obey with JOY!  

"The Holy Spirit's ability to see what we cannot, and then communicate information to us based on His knowledge, provides us with insight we could never obtain through onboard instruments alone. And yes, sometimes what He asks of us puts us in a place of discomfort that at the time seems unnecessary from our vantage point, but trusting Him and responding to Him is always in our best interest." - Priscilla Shirer

So you see, it comes down to trust. Do I trust that what the Lord tells me will be in my best interest and the best interest of someone else if He is telling me to bless someone or talk with them or pray for them or what have you?

Will I step out of my comfort zone and obey my God?  

The more I practice this obeying of His voice, the more my faith will be built and the more trust I will have in my God. It's a moment by moment walk of faith. A constantly growing closer relationship with the God that created this body that depends on Him for every breath, let alone the grace to obey when He whispers in my heart. 

God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.    Philippians 2:13

That verse, my friends, encourages this soul!