I was driving home late one night when I noticed a car pulled off the road. The hood was up and there was a guy standing there looking at the engine. I immediately heard the Lord tell me to pull over and help. I thought of all the reasons why I shouldn’t, told myself it wasn’t God and kept driving. As I got to a red light about a mile up the road, I kept hearing the Lord tell me to help him. Then all of a sudden his hazard lights started blinking. I knew very few people were going to come down that road that late, and I knew what God was asking, so I made a u-turn. I’ve dismissed God’s voice enough in my life to know the regret that was coming if I didn’t obey. It turns out his car broke down over an hour away from home and his phone was dying. I was able to help him get a tow truck so he didn’t have to stay stranded.
What God asks us to do doesn’t always make sense in the moment. In John 2 Jesus was at a wedding and they ran out of wine. His mother tells the attendants to do whatever He says. He looks right at them and tells them to fill the stone jars with water. That’s an easy request. So they comply. Then he told them to dip some of that water out and take it to the master of ceremonies. That one didn’t make sense. They had just filled it with water. They hadn’t run out of water. They had run out of wine. The Bible doesn’t tell us if they hesitated or pushed back, but putting myself in their shoes, I might have. Nonetheless, they obeyed and found out quickly that Jesus had turned the water into wine. Everything worked out when they moved beyond hearing the voice of Jesus and obeyed.
James 1:22 says, “Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice” (GNT). How many times have you felt you heard God ask you to do something only to dismiss it? You’re not alone. We’ve all done it. There’s a difference in listening to God’s voice and acting on it. Listening is easy. Action is hard at times. I pray every day that God would put me in someone’s path who needs a word of encouragement, hope to believe God hears their prayers or who needs to be blessed. By praying that, it causes me to listen for His voice throughout the day. When He points out a random stranger, I have to put it into practice or dismiss it. We all have that same choice daily. Will you obey that voice today or will you rationalize it away? Let’s look for ways today to practice obeying God’s voice by purposefully listening for His voice and determining to obey it no matter what.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 