When God Speaks

Almost every story in the Bible talks about how God spoke to them, and for the most part, they listened.

For the most part. 

God talks to us each day. Sometimes we can hear Him, and sometimes we are deaf as a stump. 

On occasion, He can be heard quite clearly. I had that happen a few years ago (if you read my other blog posts) when God told me to write all of the books. My reaction was less than stellar- and I'd heard the Big Dude Himself.

Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay 

I partially wrote some of the books. Partially. Some. I might have finished a story or two since He told me what to do. But it took me years of on-and-off obedience before I finally decided to truly listen.

At least I thought I was listening.

I tried to make time to write, but I kept getting distracted. It's so easy in this digital world we dive into each day. But in the end, I kept berating myself because I, once again, was caught up in the digital world, wasting the time God gave me.

This past week I'd had an inkling. A feeling. A persistent need to make changes. But this wasn't the same voice I'd heard out loud years ago. This was inside. The little voice everyone thinks is their conscience. It's really the Holy Spirit. 

It wanted me to give up something I loved. I was lead to give it up. I was urged to give it up. The Spirit wanted me to give up my phone games. However, I'm a game addict. I'd limited myself to a few games, but they still stole a lot of my attention, money, and time. That persistent little voice came when I wasn't ready to give them up. But I did. Well, I almost did.

I deleted all but one.

I was actually willing to give it up, but I hesitated. I was a long-term player, I was in a group, I'd made friends (Christian ones!) and I'd gotten to a significant level that I was a great benefit to my group. They needed me. 

But did they? Or did I need them more? Did I need them more than God's blessings?

Ouch.

At first I decided to make myself dormant for gameplay. I wouldn't delete the game app, but I would just stop playing. That should be enough, right? Even I knew that wasn't the answer. I'd been playing this game twice a day for almost two years! I felt the Spirit nudge me again. I had to delete it.

The Holy Spirit wafted over me and I felt myself separate from my addiction. I didn't need these games to be happy. I'd be happier without them- especially this one. So I told my gaming buddies I would be leaving, and gave myself one last day for others to get on so I could say my gaming goodbyes. 

I went out in a blaze of glory, fighting one last big battle, using all of my saved up items (read: hoarded items) to beat the bad guy and said my farewells to the other players. (I talk to a few of them on a different chat platform- we'll keep in touch and maybe even meet in real life.) And after everything was said and done...

I deleted the game.

It took three days from the initial urge until I'd finally obeyed everything the Spirit indicated. My obedience was delayed, but I still listened. I want to be able to listen better (and faster) in the future.

Two hours after I deleted the game, my husband called. We were immensely, unexpectedly blessed. I felt like my obedience was possibly the last pebble that needed to be removed to release the flood of blessings!

I still wonder what would have happened if I'd stayed stubborn and didn't delete that last game. Scary.

There are still struggles and distractions to contend with. This laptop (the new one this time!) still needs files transferred, programs installed, and tweaks here and there. I won't be bored! I still have files that need to be sorted, but the writing ones are ready and waiting for me to work on them.

And when I woke up this morning? I didn't miss the game. In fact, I was looking forward to using the 'extra' time to write this blog post!

God is good. The Spirit is good. Jesus is good. I'm part of the best team ever!

And I'm really glad I listened.