Last week I shared about our children having selective hearing. They seem to be able to hear us when we ask them if they want some ice cream…but are suddenly deaf if we ask them to do a task around the house. It’s not that they don’t hear us…they just sometimes choose not to listen.
While I was putting that particular post together…I kept sensing God asking me if I was good at listening. Do I hear Him when He speaks to me and immediately obey…or do I often pretend not to hear and continue to do my own thing? Yes, many children today need to learn to do as they’re told…but if I’m honest…I have some work to do in this area also.
As I have shared…the past several months have been difficult for me and I have struggled to see God’s plan for my life. I have prayed over and over again for Him to reveal what He wants me to do…since several of the things I have felt called to do in the past…just aren’t possible at this point due to my health. I have become frustrated, discouraged and if I’m honest, probably a little cranky.
But I realized a couple weeks ago that it wasn’t that God wasn’t hearing my prayers…it was that I wasn’t listening to His answers. Because you see…I didn’t want to accept the answers He was giving me…so I conveniently chose not to listen.
This realization came to me as I was talking to a friend whom I deeply respect. He was asking me how my health was at this point and then asked how I was handling it mentally. I shared with him my discouragement and frustration in not knowing what God’s plan was for my life right now and he calmly said, “Sure you do. You know what His plan is for you…you are living it right now. What you are going through is God’s plan for you at this time. You may not like it and it may not be easy…but this is His plan for you.” His statement hit me like a ton of bricks…because I’ve heard God telling me that…but I haven’t wanted to accept it. What He’s been telling me hasn’t been what I wanted to hear…so I figured if I just kept acting like I wasn’t hearing Him…He might change His mind 😊
Then this past week, my devotions took me to Isaiah 43:18-19, which reads,
18) “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19) See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18-19
Verse 19 means so much to our family because God has used it to do great things for us…but I’m not sure I ever paid attention to verse 18. I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that as I read that verse, God was reaffirming that I am not to dwell in the past. I’m not to hold onto whatever His prior will was for me. He is now doing something new and He WILL make a way in the wilderness of my life and bring the most needed water in my wasteland. My past was because of Him…now I need to trust Him with my present and my future because it is all for His glory.
What about you? Are you listening for God’s voice and immediately obeying Him…or are you like I was and choosing to have selective hearing? I can attest to the fact that you will have a lot more peace if you decide to accept His plan and be obedient to His directives. After all, He knows your yesterday, today and tomorrow…so who could be better at giving you directions than Him!
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