Day 10: Hearing God

You Might Catch Hands!

READ- Isaiah 6:8

REFLECT- I hate being startled! I’m not sure that hate is a strong enough word. Allow me to elaborate. I despise, detest, loathe, and abhor being startled with the white hot passion of a thousand suns burning for all eternity in the black abyss of the eternal universe. My children know (through years of trial and error) that startling the old man is not a good idea. You may inadvertently (in an completely involuntary, reactionary response) ‘catch hands’ if you pop out of the dark and startle me. Needless to say I’m not a fan, so imagine how startled I was when I heard my own voice saying, “Okay God, I’ll do it.” when he asked me to be a pastor. Not a worship pastor, which I had been for years, but an honest to goodness, card carrying, ordained pastor… a real life Reverend! I felt that God called me to be a pastor when I was seventeen and until a decade ago I had somewhat eluded that call. I never wanted to be a preacher. I was perfectly content being a singer who sort of played the guitar. That is until the guy who was our campus pastor took another job and I clearly heard a still small voice say, “I want you to take it”. I said, “yes” but I cried, my stomach was in knots, I was terrified. Sometimes it is startling to hear God, especially if we hear ourselves responding “yes” to stepping out of our comfort zones and doing something new, but that’s who he is. He is always new, he is always exciting, his voice is sometimes startling but always soothing because he loved you first and he loves you most. Listen for the voice of the King calling you forward!

RESPOND- Ask God to pleasantly startle you this week with his voice. Pray that he will lead you somewhere that you’ve never been, to do something you never thought possible.