He Hears

Miranda Reed
Bleat.
What, God? What did you say?
Bleat.  
I have no idea what that means nor what I am supposed to do with that word. Is it even a word? If so, I am exhausted, and I will have to get up in the middle of the night, look it up in the dictionary, and it’s probably not even a real word.
Bleat.
Fine, I’m getting up.  
bleat /blēt/ verb: A cry that a sheep makes for the Shepherd.  
The Shepherd says I hear your bleat. Stop bleating and get to work.  
Enough said.  

Wow!

This is how a conversation went down with God when He woke me up in the middle of the night, in a time in my life that was depressing, sad, lonely, and one of the deepest heartaches I had experienced. Bleat is a word that might sound simple, but to me, during this time, I was clueless about the meaning. I had to get up in the middle of the night and literally grab a dictionary off the shelf, open and look to see what the definition was, and read the sentence listed as an example of how the word is used.  

I had been crying out to God and asking Him if He heard my cry. I asked him the following questions (maybe you can relate):

-Do you really love me?

-Do you understand my pain?

-Where are you in the middle of this heartache?

-Why aren’t you showing up and giving me something to cling to for hope?

-Where is the rest I so desperately need?


Insert “bleat” here. This encounter was the most audible and clear I had ever heard God speak up to this point in my life. I still get chills to think that He did love me enough to literally tell me, “I hear you. I hear your cry, and I want you to stop now and move on and get to what I have for you.” In awe, my heart and my Spirit leapt with joy. I realized that my Savior did love me so much, and He wasn’t abandoning me. He was alive and speaking to me clearly in a personal way and demonstrating to me that He will answer me when I call to Him.


This manifestation of His presence is what I desire all the time. Is that too much??? No, I think it is exactly what we should be hoping and seeking for in our daily lives as children of God. I don’t know about you, but IF what we claim to be true (1-Jesus is God’s Son, and He died on the cross for our sins. 2-He arose on the third day and is alive now and residing at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. 3-His Holy Spirit is to be our helper during our time on this Earth) THEN why do we not seek and desire to be in His presence and hear from Him and commune with Him constantly?  
This isn’t a rhetorical question. I am evaluating and asking my own self this very question. To be honest, I even find myself frustrated that I DO believe and DO NOT actively pursue His presence.

Why don’t I?

What keeps me from it?

How can I eliminate the barriers?

Church, we worship together every Sunday inside a building (most of us in 1st world countries) and pray and ask Him to show up and to show His power, and it sounds really good and inviting, but what do we DO to truly bask in His presence and to authentically feel and engage with the Holy Spirit?  

As a worship leader, I know that I tend to worry at times if I am praying too much, taking too long during worship, too scared. He may leave me hanging if I speak out in a manner consistent with how the Spirit is leading. I repent of this. I believe that we should do whatever it takes to sit in the presence of God.  


I do believe we can worship in our day-to-day activities and lives as we are able to see God in nature, at home, in our workplace, in friendships, and everywhere we go. But what I am talking about here is what the disciples, Paul, and the others, experienced when they actively desired to see God move and answer prayers.

He heals, NOT healed.  

He sets captives free, NOT set them free.  

He breaks the chains that bind us, NOT broke them.
 
He awakens our Spirit unto Him, NOT awoke.  

He teaches us His ways and how to abide, NOT taught.  

We don’t serve a past-tense God.

 He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. His presence, His miracles, and His manifestation is real and alive and active, and we should desire all of it above anything else.  

But, why? We can live happy and healthy, and content lives without all the weird stuff, Miranda. It’s too much. It’s a little too risky to not know for sure how long worship may go and what time we possibly get out of a worship gathering on a Sunday.

God, forgive me. These are my own thoughts at times.  

Here’s the why... because HIS PRESENCE SHIFTS EVERYTHING.  

I know. I know. Once again, that sounds nice, but what does it shift?  

It shifts our thoughts, which directly drive our actions and choices in life.

His presence fixes our focus on Him and redefines how we walk out every single day.

His presence frees us to become and to be exactly who He created us to be.

His presence opens doors that no man can shut.

His presence motivates us to live out our purpose, so others who are exhausting themselves with quadruple the work because we have failed to step up and into our own call can rest.

The practice of pursuing the Holy Spirit and trusting Him is what completes the body of Christ. It is what directs our paths to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  

I challenge you to begin to talk to the Father as if you are talking to your friend.

Ask Him to speak to you.

Ask Him to show up and to set your heart on fire.

Ask Him to forgive you for being afraid and for holding back and for rushing His presence when really all we should do is slow down and rest in His presence.  

When we begin to be a united body that pursues all He has to offer, then we will begin to see breakthroughs.  

You can be an initiator of the breakthrough, or you can experience it as the result of the others around you who are actively ushering it in. Personally, I want to be part of a breakthrough from the ground up. I want to see Mayfield set on fire because we are united, we didn’t rush His presence, we trusted that He would speak a fresh Word, He would set us free, and He would send us out so we can do all He has created us to do to make His name known.  

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