It was the first 2 minutes I’d had to myself all day.
I’d been racing around all day, getting the kids ready to go to Grandmas and myself ready to go out with Jeremy for the evening and trying to leave the house in some semblence of order – oh, and cooking breakfast, lunch, and a dinner we could take in the car. Yeah, hectic.
I knew I needed to connect with God, to get His perspective on my life, to give my soul a breath of fresh air. But I just didn’t have time.
Finally, with two children napping and the third in front of a movie, I snuck in the bathroom to take a shower. As the hot water sprayed over my face I tried to relax, but instead found myself ranting at myself, life, and God. Frusterated that in a season of my life where I KNOW I need to connect with Him on a regular basis, everything seems to fight against that – busy schedules, so many little one’s needs, lack of sleep – need I go on? I know you all can relate.
That’s when God’s Spirit nudged mine with the suggestion – “Why not use these two minutes to meet with me?” Kinda reminds me of the widow’s two mites…
“Hmmm – good idea – just might work,” I thought. “I’ll give Him these few moments I have to myself and see if He can do anything with it.”
Well, believe it or not, the Lord spoke to me, there in the shower, filling my heart with joy and peace and His love. He is so faithful. I wanted to share with you what He said to me that day because I think it will be an encouragement to all of you who have long days and little children to care for. But with the rest of this post I want to share my notes from yesterday’s sermon which, of all things, was on the topic of hearing the Spirit’s Voice. (Thanks to my awesome pastor and father-in-law, Mark Holden, for this great teaching)
Often when one tries to listen to the Spirit’s voice, so many other thoughts invade. It’s helpful to know these characteristics of God’s voice – what it is and what it isn’t.
God’s voice is…
- the voice of Truth – what He speaks will never contradict scripture.
- the voice of Love – always based on a foundation of love
- the voice of Healing – He desires to restore and build up and make whole
- the voice of Wooing – It’s winsome and attractive, He wants to embrace and console.
God’s voice is…
- NOT Condemning -” “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1
- NOT Angry – “the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” James 1:20
- NOT Rejecting – He is a God of mercy and grace who invites us in!
- NOT of the flesh – He does not speak things to us that would build up our flesh.
If you have been trying to hear the Lord’s voice in your heart lately and have been confused and unsure what He is saying and what might be coming from other places, try comparing it to this list. Then you can discern what is truth and you can toss out what is lies.
His words to me in the shower the other day were full of love and compassion – I hope to share them with you tomorrow.
This post actually fit in with last week’s post over at Faith Barista so I’ve linked up over there. Visit her blog to find more inspiration for seeking God’s voice in her White Space series. 
How do you find time with God in your busy day?
Hi Trina! I wanted to circle back and thank you so much for sharing this in the faith jam a couple weeks ago. As a mom of a 2 & 5 yr old, I am still transitioning from my life w/out kids – where I could have restful times with God spontaneously. 🙂 The shower is one of my FAVE places. LOL. Thank you for sharing the rich insights here about rest.
Great reminder of ways to spend time with God and what HE can do when we allow him to move in our life. Coming over from faith barrista.
Jeremy sure is wise 🙂 My dad (also my pastor 🙂 tells me that all the time. The devil will use any tactic available to get us thinking about ourselves instead of recieving Gods forgiveness and looking on the cares of others.
I often find that a good conversation with a fellow believer can be just as affective for “cleaning” me up and setting me on the right path as a quite time with God. Sometimes, when things are quiet, my thoughts get even more wild and God's truth from the mouth of a friend can go a long way for calming a troubled mind. Even if those words come to me from a blog post or a letter! 🙂
Thank you Trina. God does use your words!
Traci, thanks for mentioning that. You're absolutely right – the two C's can be similar.
I have experienced the unrest in my spirit when brought on by guilt – but Jeremy has shared with me the wisdom that when God convicts it's usually about something specific, whereas when the devil accuses, it's a general feeling of guilt without a clear idea of what to do about the condemnation other than wallow it it. Christ's conviction comes with clear action – repentance, and that brings peace.
Thanks for joining the discussion. Missed you yesterday!
I think often people confuse condemnation and conviction, which is not the same thing. We can be convicted which if not taken with an attitude of humility can be met by our own rebellion and bad attitudes… in which case we deceive ourselves into thinking it's condemning because we don't want to submit to the conviction. Does that make sense?