Day 230

It's Day 230 of  The Red Shoe Project.  I've already taken Pauly for his morning walk and have kicked my Red ballet flats into the corner of the room.   I have decided to go shoeless, for the rest of the day,  as I sit at my computer to worship, pray and write.  No worries... my toe nails are a
ruby red  and will remind me to stay focused on what God wants to accomplish in my heart today, as well as in this blog.

As I continue to organize the thoughts in my head regarding Hearing God's Voice, I have, myself, been challenged to go even deeper.  Already I am preparing my heart and my calendar to begin a time of fasting and prayer in the near future.  I hope you don't think I'm preaching to you, for my writings are merely a journal of what God is doing in my heart;  His personal words of instruction to me;  my thoughts and prayers regarding spiritual matters;  and my own analysis as I struggle to figure out my individual walk with God so that I might make the most of it!

PART 3:  

Things that hinder 

my hearing God's voice.

Today I am thinking about the #1 hinderance to hearing God's voice.  

A "hindrance"  is  something that's in the way, preventing me from getting to where I want to go.  It's a...

- road block 

- delay

- snag

- deterrent,  

- impediment   

- obstacle

- barrier   

- encumbrance,

- stumbling block 

Without question, the #1 Hinderance to 

Hearing God's Voice has to be

LACK OF TIME.

I'm not going to kid you, hearing from God is awesome!  But it's also time consuming.  That's because God wants a relationship.  A relationship with anyone, let alone The God of the Universe, takes time.  With that, God doesn't always respond right when I want Him to.  Sometimes it can take hours, days, or longer.  I'm not easily offended, because I know all too well that God's time table is not the same as mine.  To him a thousand years is like a day.  But here's something to think about.  

Have you ever had someone start hanging 

around you , and it dawns on you that

 they don't really want to be your friend... 

they just want something you have?

At first they say all the right things, but it doesn't take long to recognize the phoniness of their friendship.  Enough said?  God isn't one of those carnival fortune telling machines that you drop a quarter into and out pops your horoscope.  He's also not fooled when people pop in to merely obtain a Good Word and once they have it, they disappear again.  Quite the contrary.  God is omniscient.  That means He knows everything.  He knows how I'm really doing, regardless of what I say.  He knows what I'm thinking continuously.  He knows all my doubts and insecurities.  He knows what makes me happy and what makes me sad.  He knows what makes me tick - why I do the things I do.  He even knows things about me that I haven't yet discovered.  And that's only the half of it.  He knows me top to bottom, inside and out!  And even with all that knowledge,  He still yearns to sit and talk with me.  In His time,  He will.  That's why He wants  a relationship!

But I must be willing to WAIT:

• to linger in His presence until something happens. 
• to remain in readiness for some purpose.  
• to stay put until He engages in conversation with me. 
• to rest in Him, trusting and believing, He'll respond.

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to Him must believe

that He exists and that He rewards those 

who earnestly seek Him."

   Hebrews 11:6

I don't think of it as "spending time."  No, it's more of an investment of my time.  I call it that because God blesses me for making time for Him.  He's the best Spiritual Banker in town, offering compounding interest at a Heavenly rate!  No one else comes close to matching that.  Time with Him is what makes me RICH!  Yes, I'm quite the wealthy women!

In closing, I want to stress that Waiting on God can be more challenging than you think.  Have you ever waited for a bus or taxi and it seemed to take forever?
Some time ago, I remember God giving me a word to give to a dear sister in the Lord.  He told me to tell her,   "He sees her. 
 He hasn't forgotten her.  And that things would be changing soon."

Well, she's still waiting.  It's been much longer than expected.  I understand, all too well, how long God's "soon" can take.  I've put it on my list with God's other terms like... "just around the corner" and "closer than you think."  But in times like this, I'm reminded of when Jesus said to the Twelve,

"You do not want to leave too, do you?"

Simon Peter answered him,

"Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life."

Where else would I go?  I'd rather wait for God, than get a quick fix somewhere else, only to be disappointed in the long run.  Those quick fixes never work out.  I know because I've tried them many times.   There's an old saying,  

"Good things come to those that wait."  

That said...

I'm getting up every morning, 

putting on my Red Shoes 

and waiting!  I'm watching 

and waiting for Him.  

Perhaps "soon" will arrive with Him today!

Gail