In the movies it is pretty clear when God is talking to you. He shows up and looks like either George Burns or Morgan Freeman. But in real life?
How do we know when we are walking in God’s wisdom or when we are led by God? Does he encourage us? We know he loves us and the bible describes Him as a small still voice. There have been a few times recently that I truly felt that God was speaking to me. He encouraged me.
This morning was one of those times. I may write about the others another time. Last night Jeannie and were talking and I told her how I felt I was being disobedient by not pushing further into a place of “going”. By this I mean leaving the US and going abroad. It is something Jeannie and I explored before and after we moved from North Hills. But lately I could not shake that somehow because I had not left that I was not trusting God with my life or that I was somehow wimping out. This feeling has been on me for months until this morning.
Every so often I wake at the same time for a number of days in a row. By the same time I mean the exact same time on the clock. A few times in the past I have been encouraged by God in these moments. This morning was one of those times. I had dreams of Daniel and lions during the night. I do not recall exactly what was happening but the context was lions and danger. Even Beck was part of the lion reference as the night before he was worried about a lion we had to wash because he placed it in the dog house. But I digress…trust me when I say there was some references to Daniel and the Lions den. I woke up at 6:18 again this morning and this morning felt led to to reference Daniel (this bible reference was easy even for me). I like my sleep, so I laid in bed and did nothing but after a few minutes I could no longer stand it. I was not going back to sleep. I had to know what was in Daniel 6:18. As I grabbed my phone I noticed it was now 6:23 so I decided I would read 18-23. Flipped open my app and started to read:
18 The king returned to his palace. He didn’t eat anything that night. He didn’t ask for anything to be brought to him for his enjoyment. And he couldn’t sleep.
19 As soon as the sun began to rise, the king got up. He hurried to the lions’ den. 20When he got near it, he called out to Daniel. His voice was filled with great concern. He said, “Daniel! You serve the living God. You always serve him faithfully. So has he been able to save you from the lions?”
21 Daniel answered, “My king, may you live forever! 22 My God sent his angel. And his angel shut the mouths of the lions. They haven’t hurt me at all. That’s because I haven’t done anything wrong in God’s sight. I’ve never done anything wrong to you either, my king.”
23 The king was filled with joy. He ordered his servants to lift Daniel out of the den. So they did. They didn’t see any wounds on him. That’s because he had trusted in his God.
I think we can sometimes forget that satan wants us to draw away from God and hide. 1 Peter 5:8 talks about Satan being like a lion looking for a man to devour. He wants us feeling that guilt and shame. He had me feeling that way.
This morning I am free from that feeling. A feeling I had for months, that somehow I was not living God’s will and he was displeased with me. This is a lie. God loves me. He does not look down on me and wish I had done this or that. He knows my whole life. He knows my heart. He has sent angels to protect me, more than once I am sure.
I often joke about wishing that God would send me an email or send Morgan Freeman to my house so I could be clear about what and where to be in God’s will. But really it is in these quiet moments where things just kind of fit together and God speaks to me through His word that I am truly encouraged by my Heavenly Father. I hope you are encouraged by this and that you get to experience that love.