I felt strongly about blogging this morning about a direction that I was going and a decision that had to be made, when it completely got turned around by my listening to the Holy Spirit’s “still small voice.”
When a recent decision I had made seemed like a good one at the time, someone said something to me that, internally, a red flag went up. It was subtle, but it was there. Then, a couple of days later, as I was at the point of confirming the decision I was going to make, something occurred that resulted in another red flag going up. At this point, I’m beginning to feel uneasy about the direction I was going and could not seem to figure out the reason nor shake that uneasiness.
I was then led to do a bit of research in trying to figure out what was causing the uneasiness and I discovered why I was getting red flags and feeling so uneasy. Right at that point, the Heavenly Father revealed to me the reason and I was glad I was heeding God’s still small voice.
Haven’t you ever gone through a situation or decision-making journey and felt that God was trying to tell you something and you may or may not have heeded what inner voice, but later was either glad that you had listened or sorry that you had not? I think we all have gone through such situations, but I can tell you from personal experience, there is a certain joy and sense of peace when you listen to that small voice which ultimately can make a big impact on your life.
The Bible indicates in 1 Kings 19:11-12, “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
Perhaps the most profound words and direction from the Heavenly Father are through that still small voice or whisper that God wants us to hear.
Sometimes the things we want or the direction we want to go is not God’s plan for our life. It is wise to listen to your intuition or “gut” feeling about something because the feeling is there for a reason. I feel it is there to warn or give us insight to what God wants us to do. Making rash and quick decisions when you feel inside a red flag waving, even when you don’t know why, could be disastrous if you are not paying attention to that red flag.
I felt a great sense of peace after changing my decision and going the opposite direction of what I initially thought was the best direction for me to go, only to discover that it was due solely to listening to God’s voice.
During devotions this morning, reading “Our Daily Bread,” the subject was entitled “Divine Diversions.” To me, it was God confirming that I had listened to Him and had made the right decision. The Scripture is from Acts 16:7, which reads, “They try to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.” The devotional went on to say, “Who among us hasn’t grieved what we initially thought to be a painful loss? We’ve felt wounded when we didn’t get a certain job, when a service opportunity didn’t materialize, when a relocation got derailed. Though such things can momentarily be weighty, time often reveals that such detours are actually divine diversions what God graciously uses to get us where He wants us, and we are grateful.” This devotional was appropriate for me today and God was confirming to me, in this timely devotional, that I had listened and heeded that “divine diversion,” and I am so grateful!
May we each always have the wisdom and intuition to know when God is warning us in life-changing decisions, and the importance of being in-tune with Him and sense and hear His “still small voice!”
To read this poem , “A Still Small Voice,” in it’s entirely, please check out my Christian Inspirational Poem Book, “The Fingers of God.” The book is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Divine Truth Christian Store, Parables, and through my website.
Background photo to above poem is by Joseph Barrientos on Unsplash.
