Sometimes we need to recharge. We need time to listen to a message instead of praying for an answer. A lot of times we can get so caught up in life pursuing our dreams and being busy helping and praying for others that we may miss a message that God has for us. It’s in those times when God will sit you down if you’re not listening. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in your life, how badly you may want to do something, if God says sit, you have no choice but to sit down. When God says listen, open your ears and receive the word that He has for you because only when God says go, will you be able to go.
That’s what just happened to me. Recently, God sat me down and forced me to listen to some words He had for me. These last couple days, God needed to talk to me. I’ve been so busy trying to be a spiritual warrior for my friends who are going through tough times along with trying to hurry up and finish writing my book, that I had been missing the messages God was trying to leave me. I got so caught up that I neglected checking my own personal, spiritual voicemail. So when I wasn’t checking my mailbox anymore, He forced me to have several seats.
He halted my mind and erased my thoughts. He cleared away the words so I couldn’t write anymore. I couldn’t use my gift to help another person until I listened to His messages and returned His calls. He slowed down things that were moving rapidly. He caused a pinched nerve in my back to return leaving me sluggish, immovable and sleepy from the pain pills. It was during my slumbers that I felt my spirit was in a battle. Internally, I felt a physical tug of war going on. God had been trying to warn me about there still being things that I needed to take care of, but I was too busy not listening. Finally He had enough of my stubbornness and stepped in causing an eclipse to come over my mind.
My writings halted because my thoughts ceased to temporarily exist. I wasn’t able to write or post anything. I felt like I could barely put together a sentence let alone a prayer for anyone. So I asked God, ‘why is this happening to me?’ It took a few days but I’ve finally received my answer. I was stopped in my tracks because I needed to listen. I was too busy doing too much talking and typing that I was neglecting His right to respond. I was doing too much of my own thing, according to my own timeline that I was missing out on the things He still needed from me. There’s still more work that needs to be done that I was neglecting handling. Not because I didn’t want to deal with them but rather I was so busy talking and moving at my own speed that I totally forgot about God’s speed and timing and what He was trying to do within me.
Now that He’s forced me to listen, I was able to hear and receive spiritually a good message. With my ears now focusing on His voice, He’s allowed the words to return to me. My thoughts are back still focused on Him and the task at hand. There are things I need to complete, things I still have to deal with and add to the book I’m writing. There are messages that God needs to ensure are brought to life in the book and in my daily writings. I’m reminded that only on God’s time may things happen, not on my watch. It’s because I’m listening now that I’m able to write this message to you.
We don’t always understand why things happen or why God allows things to overtake us or come our way. God doesn’t work on our time, we work on His! It’s in those times when we need to stop crying out to Him in prayer and start LISTENING to what He’s trying to say. We may receive those answers to those very same questions we raised in our conversations with Him. It’s when we pray, that we are talking to God. However, if we choose to dominate the conversation by doing all of the talking, we miss out on the response that usually comes right after we shut up!
So learn from my mistake. Shut up and start listening! Sometimes you have to stop talking to God, pause for a moment, take a breather, wait and LISTEN for His response. He has something to say to you, trust me I know, but He’ll only start talking once we SHUT UP and LISTEN! I’m not telling you to stop praying. I’m telling you to be mindful of conversation etiquette: you must pause and wait for the other person to respond.
Dear Father: I pray today that we take the time to listen to what YOU are trying to tell us. May we learn to hold our peace and let you fight our battles. May we develop the spirit of hushness so that we may hear your voice. You allow storms to come for a reason. There are lessons needed to be learned during those seasons. May we stop getting in the way and stop trying to over talk you so we may hear exactly what you have to say to us. May we not get to the point where you have to physically sit us down like you just did me. However knowing that we are humans, I recognize that we are all subject to failure. So if you need to sit us down because of our inability to relinquish control, may you give us the spirit of discernment to hear your voice and your voice alone. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Sincerely with love,
~A.G.Rogers
(Instagram: @AndreaGees)
Travel photography by IG user: @rodmarphoto
A Gees Life 