Ears to Hear

 

(photo from banter.com)

In this season of life, I find myself floundering a bit. What doors might God be opening for me now? What purpose has He created for me to fulfill in 2021 and beyond?

Once your children are grown, and their children are grown to the point where they don’t really need you anymore, the whole landscape of your life changes. Retirement might someday become boring if we just continue to have fun and doing nothing of importance.

Life without purpose is empty. Although, I don’t feel empty, I’m in a holding pattern, waiting on God.

Or is He waiting on me?

So, while pondering this conundrum, I began to ask myself, just what do I know about hearing God’s voice? Here’s what I came up with. What points can YOU add?

In no particular order:

*I need to be in God’s Word regularly; daily.

*I need to be actively listening for Him, aware of His presence with me.

*I need to check my heart, making sure I’m not in rebellion or harboring bitterness and unforgiveness that could hinder my ability to hear God speak to me.

*I need to minimize distractions.

*I need to recognize that God may be saying something, right now!

*I need to realize that what God is trying to say to me, might be something I don’t really think I want to hear.

*I should probably journal and look for patterns or repetition of thoughts, and what’s drawing my attention lately, while most definitely reflecting on His goodness, and offering up thanksgiving.

*I need to be praising Him! The Bible tells us that He inhabits the praises of His people.

*I need to be coming together for fellowship with other Christians. Often, God speaks through our friends and strangers we haven’t made friends with yet.

*I need to be more purposeful about communication, it’s generally between two or more. Prayer involves as much listening as it does speaking, maybe more – He did give us one mouth and two ears.

So, that’s what I’ve got so far. Feel free to include me in your prayers, that my listening will pay off and I’ll get myself pointed in the right direction and begin to feel purpose again. And if you have any more points to add, PLEASE let me know!

I love you.