I want to start this off by saying that if you want to hear the Lord you have to seek Him with everything you have. He is speaking to you every day and in every moment through different circumstances. Are you willing to give up the things keeping you from hearing Him? You may be thinking to yourself, “I can’t think of anything that would be holding me back from hearing the Lord.”. Well, you’re probably wrong. There are so many habits and thoughts holding us back from even just listening to Him. In Psalms 116, it says, “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.”. It says that the Lord of all the heavens and the earth inclines His ear to hear our cries! Just as He inclines His ear to hear us we should also give everything we have to incline our ears to hear Him. So, that we can draw near to Him and spread the love of Jesus Christ to all who thirst for it. This means when you desire to be on your phone you choose to spend time in solitude with the Lord. When you think you don’t have anything left to give you choose to lean on Him and allow Him to be your strength. When you don’t think you can do any more social interaction you push through and pay attention to those around you. It might be your family, it might be the person that you can’t even stand to listen to, or it might be the person in front of you at the checkout line. Doing these things that make your flesh uncomfortable are the things that are going to bring you into intimacy with the Holy Spirit. It’s so simple, and it is so not easy.
On Saturday, January 21st, 2023 I started to pray about an opportunity to go on a mission trip with World Race through the 10/40 window. I had been praying for some direction on what the Lord was wanting me to do for a while, but this was a more specific prayer that I felt I was being led to pray. Every time I would hear people talk about going into the 10/40 window I felt this strong desire to know more. So, for about a week I had been praying and asking the Lord to just make it abundantly clear if it was or wasn’t something that He would want me to do. Then, on Thursday night January 26th, 2023 the Lord blessed me with a vision. I was fast asleep and suddenly an image of Jesus holding my hand and walking with me through a field of grass appeared. He stopped and looked at me for a minute then He said to me, “I want you to go.”. As soon as He said it I woke up with tears in my eyes because I knew exactly what He was talking about. He answered me in a way I couldn’t deny or doubt. He speaks, you just have to be willing to ask and listen.
Something He has been teaching me since then is that no matter how many things He reveals and says to us we still have to trust in Him. I know now that He wants me to go on the 10/40 trip, and I also still have so many questions about when, how, and who will I be going with. But that’s not for me to know right now. I think He revealed that to me so that I would be able to pray and prepare my mind, body, and soul. In reality, I am not promised tomorrow. I need to focus on the now the next 5 minutes. Who is the Lord putting in front of me right now, how should I be serving him right now, every breath I take in this very minute is being used to praise His name. My faith isn’t based on my circumstances it is based on the unwavering love that the Lord has instilled in me to share with others. Find your purpose in the only thing that can truly never change. Love God. Love people.
