Listening for God to speak in our lives can be simple. Do we recognize when it happens? What might it look like? Here is a recent example of this in my own life. Maybe it will help you consider where God might be speaking in yours.
Listening
I like to call it God speaking in stereo. When a theme is echoed in more than one place in my life, reinforcing the message I am receiving.
Last week this happened as I was writing the blog post about the song “Jesus Loves Me.” I was reflecting on which Bible verses to use:
Psalm 139:1
1 John 3:1
In fact the idea to write the blog post solidified when I was sharing my thoughts in a small gathering about whether or not we believe that Jesus loves us. One friend replied, “That’s a blog post.”
Hearing her response reinforced that maybe this was a good idea to pursue.
Familiar Bible verse
While writing the post I reflected which Bible verses would be helpful to hold onto this truth of God loving us while already knowing about us.
Psalm 139 came to mind because I was familiar with it. I had read that Psalm in my Bible so it was in my memory bank.
A song
On my way to a Bible study I heard Matthew West’s song, “Hello, My Name Is.” The bridge of the song speaks of God’s love for His children. When I heard it, I knew that was the phrase I was looking for. The words reminded me of a Bible passage, I just wasn’t sure where to find it in the Bible. Because I was listening, I heard the answer I was seeking.
As soon as I arrived, I wrote down the verse so I wouldn’t forget it. Although I didn’t know where it was located in the Bible, I figured I could do a search later.
A speaker
During the Bible study teaching, the speaker shared a verse from the first letter of John in the New Testament. Problem solved. Wouldn’t you know it was the same verse I had heard in the song and written down? The verse I was seeking showed up more than once. I recognized it because I was listening.
Not long after, during the same teaching, she mentioned the verse from Psalm 139 I planned to use. Why wouldn’t she? I had confirmation for the verse in 1 John, why wouldn’t I receive confirmation for the passage from Psalm 139?
A friend
A remembered verse
A song
A speaker
God speaks
The message for the blog post came about because I listened. God speaks to us through Scripture – one really good reason to be familiar with the Bible. God can also speak to us through people, songs, and circumstances.
Are we listening?
Your comment about God speaking in stereo happens to me also! Only I call it God’s exclamation points!
What a fun way to think of it, Carolyn!