Every Morning

I journal to God every morning.

This is not a brag, and it’s not a religious duty or expectation. For me, it’s just the best way I can express myself to God. I can tell Him my feels. I can thank Him. I can sort through some things I need to process with Him. I can claim His truths, and I can lift up the people on my heart there.

One morning recently after doing this, I got in my car and I heard God say, “You sure are doing a lot of the talking. Maybe make space to listen.”

I immediately knew He was right.

I spend a lot of my time set aside for just Him with me talking, talking, talking, and not enough listening for what He might say.

Well, I was already in my car on the way to work. I had a staff meeting I couldn’t skip, so knowing He was right, I said, “Ok, I will intentionally listen to You on the way to work today.” I turned off the music and drove with a listening ear to the One I know speaks. And about a mile away from home, I heard God warn me about someone I love going on a trip, and it wasn’t safe.

Now I am going to be honest with you. I thought when God wanted me to listen, He wanted to say something to me about me. You know, maybe He wanted to reframe a mindset or bring up an area that needed attention. Maybe He wanted to give me vision for a ministry opportunity or invite me to make amends somewhere.

Isn’t it funny how we even decide what we think God will talk to us about?

Well, this particular morning, God talked to me about someone else.

Now what are we supposed to do with that? When we hear God tell us something, it might sound really outrageous to call someone and say, “Hey, God told me you are going on a trip, and it’s dangerous.”

But what would be the point of God telling me to set aside time to listen, and then I do nothing with what He said?

So I made a call. And that call led to a call to cancel the trip. And that trip ended up being to a place that was experiencing active bombing.

I love that we have a God who speaks.

And I must tell you that you don’t have to be special to get words from Him. You are special, but you don’t have to be more special. He speaks to all of us. We just have to make space to listen.

If you wanted to hear what your loved one was telling you, you wouldn’t crank up YouTube, TikTok, Apple Podcasts, iTunes, and the news. No. You would turn it all down and give them your full attention. And there, you would hear their tone of voice, the crackle in their voice, the pain or passion in their words. You would look in their eyes, and you would see something deeper. And it’s the same with God. If you want to hear Him, you need to turn down all the noise in your life.

Let me tell you this cool story.

My son has lived with one crazy mama. His entire life, we have chased signs from God. I love looking for God, finding Him, hearing Him, and watching Him move. So Aidan has had this experience growing up, and sometimes it looks crazy. I get you.

But I am watching Aidan, and as a 23-year-old, he is following the signs, breadcrumbs, and voice of God and experiencing supernatural, divine moments every day.

It’s the best way to live. And you can live this way too!

Just recently, he was asked to teach a room full of young adults how to listen to God and then go out and do what God says. After Aidan taught them what he is learning, he had them break up into small groups to listen to what God was saying to them. Aidan was in a group with kids who had never done this before, and God gave a vision to a kid named Elijah. It was an actual image of a dock at a specific location down by the bay.

Aidan then asked God, “What else should we know, God?”

And God said, “Space and Saturn.”

Now I don’t know about you, but that sounds cuckoo for cocoa puffs.

But they did. And I kid you not, they parked their car and walked down this boardwalk to the dock, and standing right there on a Monday night was a girl wearing a sweatshirt with the word “Saturn” written across the back in huge letters. She was a pastor’s kid, and they had a life-altering conversation with her.

Friend, God speaks.

And I wonder, did God send these kids to this girl because her parents had been begging God for help and intervention?

Friend, God also listens.

May the God who speaks, listens, and guides surprise you by the way you experience Him this week.