gotta do a quick post while im smack in the middle of finals. what a great night tonight at ccm! greg meeks, formerly a Calvary Chapel church planter, came and shared with us about hearing God’s voice.

a lot of times we don’t know what choice God wants us to make. we know what choices we should make when it comes to going to church, loving our brothers and sisters, sharing the good news of Christ, praying…we know that scripture tells us to do these things. but what about the harder questions that aren’t so clear cut? like, what job should i look for? which grad school/program is the right one for me? is the person i’m dating the one i should marry?

Greg shared with us that a lot of times, it’s just about asking God. ask God a specific question! and if He answers it, then you know! and if He doesn’t, then you also know. the hard part about asking ourselves questions is that sometimes we’re scared of the answer. if it’s something we want, then we don’t want God to say no. if we don’t get what we want, then we might question God or ask Him why He isn’t giving us what we want? the problem is we want what we want, and so many times we hear what we want to hear, and we fail to remember what we NEED. we have all we need in Jesus Christ and the truth of the gospel. what if we choose the wrong job and have to quit? what if the school isn’t a good fit and we have to transfer? the problem is those issues pale in comparison to salvation and the love of Christ that we already have. so why can’t we trust Him with the details of life?

i think there’s two reasons why this is so hard. one we’re selfish. we want what we want. also, the problem often isn’t whether we want to ask God a specific request. the problem is that we often neglect our relationship with Him and then we don’t even bring up the requests we have with Him!

if you’re reading this, i encourage you to ask God what to do and to make choices and to see whether He confirms them or not. it’s not hard to see when we have or haven’t made the right choice. if we ask God to confirm something, He will! The problem is it might not be in the way we ask or want, but then we need to trust that His plan is far and away better than our own because His plans included His Son dying on the Cross for the sins of man and rising again so that we might have new life.

i had to make a big decision for this summer (won’t go into detail since i’m long-winded). God has validated this decision at least 3 or 4 times since i made it. in my 28 years of life, God always does validate decisions, one way or another, and i’m still learning how to accept His will when it is not my own, and to rejoice and go all out in it when His will is what I want!

a question that wasn’t asked tonight during tonight’s meeting was “Can God say no and then say yes later? or vice versa? and i think the question to that is ABSOLUTELY. it’s a matter of trusting Him when we do know if an answer has changed, and then asking other questions to follow up what has happened in validation of our decisions.

i hope and pray that what we heard will be the start of a greater relationship for each one of us as we consider trusting God with life’s tough questions, and then to see how He validates them and then guides in life every step of the way!