The importance of listening Part II

Last week my husband surprised us all with his blog on God has a plan. Can you see it? . He and I were blown away by all the likes, comments and shares. Thank you for receiving him so well. I must confess, you received him better than I did. You see, he interrupted my plans. With Are you listening? , If you are listening  and The importance of listening, I was preparing to wrap up all this listening with one final blog, The Importance of Listening Part II. But God had another plan.

I remember a few weeks ago, Trav came home excited. With a rush of emotion, he explained how God had opened the window a little wider for him on his drive in. Travis always believed that God had brought us together. Now, he grasped that God had ordained his life, all his life. That was the birth of last week’s blog.

It reminds me of Moses being drawn to that burning bush we talked about a couple weeks ago. Even when we don’t know God, God knows us and is drawing us into Him. As Travis finished sharing his experience with me, he quickly handed me the story scribbled out in his own hand-writing. With tears in my eyes, I could feel the presence of God with us. Just like that, Travis disrupted my next blog post. But it wasn’t Travis. It was God. God interrupted Travis’ drive home that morning. And Travis was listening.

I’m sure Moses felt the same way as God drew him to that bush and then called him by name. God disrupted that shepherd’s plans for the day and for the rest of his life. But Moses was listening. This began their intimate relationship. God would equip Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. God would meet with Moses face to face and call him friend. God would give Moses the 10 commandments, part the sea and show him many signs and wonders. All because he chose to listen.

If you know me and Travis, then you probably know our story. We heard God calling, sold our house and then my business. God disrupted our lives. Often when God interrupts our lives, God will push us out of our comfort zones. That doesn’t mean you have to sell your house or your business. But it might mean that God is calling you to do something. If you listen, God will tell you what it is.

One day, I was at home working on my to-do list, checking off the last minute items that needed to be done in order to upload the book to Amazon for the March release. Confident in accomplishing all my tasks, I cleared my calendar to insure success.

About 45 minutes into my day, the phone rang. It was a friend I hadn’t talked to in a few months. Funny thing, I had been thinking of her off and on for the last two weeks. Refusing to listen, I pushed the nudges aside because I just didn’t have the time. On this day, even though in my mind I still didn’t have the time, I listened. It’s hard to explain what really happened. I’ll spare you the details, but we connected over lunch in a way that only God could have ordained. I needed to be with her and she needed to be with me. It didn’t really matter what I had planned for that day. God interrupted my day. But I chose to answer that call. And God chose to show up.

In Matthew 4:18-20, we see the same thing happening. Jesus, walking along the Sea of Galilee, calls two brothers who were fishermen. He says, “Come and follow me…”. Scripture tells us, “At once, they left their nets and followed him.” They didn’t stop and think about it or discuss it. They left at once. Talk about disruption. And think about all the miraculous things they saw by choosing to follow him.

So, when was the last time God interrupted your life? The thing is we get to choose whether or not we will participate in God’s work here on earth. It’s up to us. But I can promise you, if you will listen to God, God will amaze you at the things He will do through you.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, interrupt our lives. In Jesus Name, Amen. -M