Seeing God's Hand in your life

But you, Israel, my servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

the offspring of Abraham, my friend;

you whom I took from the ends of the earth,

and called from its farthest corners,

saying to you, "You are my servant,

I have chosen you and not cast you off";

fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41: 8-10

The weather in Seattle has been breath-takingly beautiful.  I have enjoyed my weekly travels to beautiful places within 60 miles of my home.  Truly this is a wonderful place in the summer!  I am told that we should not mention this too much because everyone from California will move here.  All I know is that as a family we have enjoyed learning about a new place.

I have also deeply enjoyed my mornings with the Lord.  We have a front room on our home that we call "the talking room."  In the morning it is bright, sunny, and delightful.  As the sun comes up, the fog burns off around the Cascades.  The light changes slowly to the full light of day.  It is beautiful and very peaceful.

It is also quiet.  Perhaps the biggest surprise of moving to the city is that my current home is much quieter than my former home in the country.  I am very thankful for this quiet.  Getting up early in my household gives me an hour to enjoy the quiet.  I so enjoy these times to read the Word of God, meet with the Lord in prayer, and have time to quiet myself before the Living God.  Today I was thinking of the untold billions who do not know how to do this.  I believe deep within me that their souls long for such times, but they do not know what it means to meet with the One True God.

I also believe this is the plight of many believers.  It only makes sense that most do not know how to meet with God in intimate prayer and fellowship.  Without models of how to do this, most live either in the land of little prayer or in the land of doing devotions because it is their duty.  Of these two extremes, doing one's duty is better than no prayer at all!

I must confess that I did devotions out of duty for years.  I gained much knowledge of the Bible, but I often did not find a life changing meeting with God during these times.  I think the primary reason why had to do with my approach to these devotions.  I did much talking to God in prayer, but I did not know it was possible or that is should be encouraged to take time to listen to God in the Word and prayer.  In fact, my religious tradition looked upon people who "listened to God's voice" as crazy folks.  What a shame!

How do we listen to the voice of God?  How do we see His hand at work?

One of the best ways to see the leading of God and to hear His voice is the process of journaling.  This morning I had the privilege of looking back over the past year to see how my thoughts, emotions, and confusion illustrated God's hand in my life.  How?  I read over my journal.

I write my in my journal occasionally.  The more confused I am about life, the more I write.  The more I need clarity in seeing God's hand, the more I write.  I write with the Word of God and my mind open to applying what I read to my life circumstances.  As thoughts come into my mind, I write and pray about them.  Generally, I then completely forget about it!

This is why journaling is so important.  I forget that the Lord is my help and shield.  I forget that He has seen me through so many questions, dangers, and difficulties.  When I write it down in my journal, I have a record of what God has done.

Yesterday, I could prayerfully see that the Lord has strengthened me, helped me, and upheld me with His righteous right hand.  Through the questions, fears, and doubts, God was at work.  What an encouragement!  If God helped me then, He will help me now.

If I had not written it down, I would have forgotten.  I would have remembered generalities, but nothing specific.  Having looked back, I can now tell my children how God has rescued me from my enemies.  How He protected me in my struggles.  How He loved me through my sin and doubt.  (Thus fulfilling God's call to fathers in Deuteronomy 6)

I challenge you to listen for the voice of the Lord.  I encourage you that even not faithful journaling can be an avenue into hearing His still small voice!