Awaken Day 11: words aflame

I realize that I am several days behind on the Awaken series now. Please forgive me. I hope that as a grace-clinger and dweller, you will extend me some grace. You never know what can happen in a month’s time and cause things to go all cattywampus. Awaken Day 11: words aflame.

When I am quiet, a few things could be true. 1. I’m despairing or feeling lost (which is not the case), or 2. I’m thinking about some things, or 3. I’m too busy with in real life people to stop and write. I’d say it has been a combination of 2 and 3! Something came up that gave me pause last week. A few different things really.

I’ve been going to a women’s shelter, and last week I made one of the women mad unintentionally (of course), and she refused to participate any further. I wondered if there was anything at all I could say to her to rectify the situation. My counselor friend assured me that time and space would probably do the trick. So we’ll see when I go back next week just what happens! It is times like that though that I remember how small and unimpressive our words can be. I’m praying that He sets any words of importance aflame in your hearts today.

How do we hear the voice of God? Does He still speak today? Until we’ve trained and attuned ourselves to the sound of it, sometimes, we simply get lost and don’t listen to it. Really I cannot train you to hear the voice of God because what you hear will be meant for only you, and the way He speaks to you may be different than the way He speaks to me. He may lift words off a page for you or whisper so small and quietly that you are not sure if He just spoke. You will learn to identify His treasures to you as you practice listening. Really it takes one wanting to be aware of His presence with you loving on you at all times, but we’ll talk about His presence next. Tomorrow we’ll look at the boy Samuel and see how He first heard the voice of God.

Until then, His Word always speaks, even when we feel dry and empty and feel like His words are the same. They are full of power even when we don’t sense it. They pierce and quench. So read a favorite psalm and ask God to speak to you through it. {Don’t worry if you are not accustomed to listening, you may not hear anything at first.}