Staying Connected to God - II

I realize that pointing out that God wants to speak to people, does speak to people far more often than we expect, and yet, maybe there is no sure way to determine whether he wishes to speak in a particular situation, does not give any help.

I also feel like I am on the edge of my understanding. I think the question I brought up in my last post is valid. Does God expect to have input in every situation? Does he expect us to mature to a point where we should be making our own decisions in some cases? And how do we determine when to seek him? Do we seek him for everything? It does say we should pray at all times, which seems to support a "yes" answer.

There are instances where we have been taught what is correct and proper to do. We should already know that if we are going to work, maybe we should be wearing black socks. And if we are going to play basketball, maybe we should be wearing white socks. And if you work construction, maybe white socks are appropriate in both cases. (Assuming we know whether or not we should even go to work.)

Often, we do know the right thing to do. But, just as often, we need to do something else ... instead of what we were taught. Or do what we were going to do ... plus something else. So, do we give God permission to interrupt us?

Sometimes, he does speak when we should know better. Like when we get cut off in traffic, we begin to get angry and maybe even begin to say some bad words. Even though we know that those actions are not good, we might just need a reminder sometimes.

But sometimes, there is no time. Do we hit the brakes, or swerve to the right?

We have all chosen a life that follows God. This means we have given God our allegiance. Our first priority is advancing his kingdom. Which means living in a certain way, often counter to what we were taught. It is a life that is more than following a set of rules. It involves a relationship; it involves quality of life; it involves a partnership. Walking and staying connected to him leads to that abundant life he talked about.

It is also about transformation. Abundant living means living in holiness, and living as we were designed to live. (And our idea of holiness is probably different than his idea of holiness.) He has shown us that, in order to get all this stuff working the way it is supposed to, we need to stay connected to him. We need to keep our hearts focused on him. We need to maintain as constant, and consistent communication with him as we can. Then, we need to follow what he tells us. And to be honest, we are all miserable at all of this.

Sometimes we don't want to. Sometimes we simply forget. Sometimes we are in a place that is noisy, and we can't tune into him; we can't get quiet in our hearts and centered in him.

This morning, in an attempt to move in the right direction. 

• I have given God permission to interrupt me, knowing full well I would miss it sometimes. 
• I resolved to seek him as often as I remembered. 
• Realizing that time and place were going to be factors, I was going to try and develop the habit of just praying "Please speak." Just those two words. God knows my heart. God knows my limits, my hopes and my desire to get him more involved.

It is probably not the best, but I do think it is a positive move forward.