Hearing the Voice of God

Big day today. Lots to share, but hang in there with me and I hope you'll be blessed - as I was!

Our home church here, Spout Springs Church, gave us the opportunity to speak today about how God is working in our lives and calling us to Cambodia. It started with a song that speaks to me every time I hear it. The song is I will follow you by Christ Tomlin. It's beautiful. Here is the main part of the chorus...

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you
I will follow you

And, if this works, you can listen to it here Chris Tomlin - I Will Follow (2010 Video & Lyrics)

I guess it speaks to me because it's how I feel about God. After that beautiful song, they played an NBC news clip from 2003 that highlighted the work of IJM in Cambodia. It's only a couple minutes so you should take a look at it.

Not fun to watch, huh? It makes me want to hug my kids every time I see it. And I saw it three times today at church. It breaks my heart, but that's why we're going. To help these hearts, these spirits, these people that truly are broken. To follow up the video, our pastor interviewed us on stage. That was great as it helped increase both awareness of IJM and of our personal "mission" there. We were excited to share our news and share how we clearly hear the voice of God calling us there.

And us sharing today worked out great because Pastor Steve preached an awesome sermon on following God and clearly discerning His voice amongst the other voices in our heads... voices of selfishness, fear, and so many others. God's voice is there. We just have to learn to listen to it and distinguish it above the others. Kind of like a mom who can pick out her child's cry from across a roomful of children. That was his example, not mine. But I can totally relate, can't you? God is speaking and He wants us to listen. So, how do we do it? Well, here's some more of what he said. You can always watch the sermon at the church website. That would be way better than my short, mistake-filled synopsis! I did hear it 3 times, though, and I never got tired of it, so I'm excited to share.

We have to make an appointment to talk to him... for our sake, not His, of course. Any time of day is good. Mark 1:35 talks of early morning, Psalm 119:55 talks of evening time with God. But Luke 5:16 shows us that any time is good, and Jesus prayed often. The key is to make it a priority. Then we let Him speak to us by reading our Bible. The Bible gives a clear picture of God and we learn about Him by reading it. It helps to journal our thoughts after reading, too. And then we have to talk to Him. We do this by prayer. Prayer means so much more to me these days than ever before. I feel lost when I'm not praying. It was through prayer that God changed my heart. I had to wrestle with Him and not let go until He changed me... until He blessed me. And, oh, is it scary! I am terrified about living in a place I've never even visited and honestly couldn't even find on a map until a couple weeks ago! But His blessings abound and we felt them this morning at church.

Thank you to those who support our journey. We are all one body in Christ and my family can't continue without you. You're so important to this mission. We were truly blessed to hear how much our home church is supporting us. And I'm not even talking about finances yet! The amount of money that the church and the people in it have pledged is so generous. I'll tell you all more about that in the coming weeks. You'll get a chance to contribute, too, if you choose.

And to those who are not supportive or are not sure what to think of our journey, I ask this. Please pray. If you don't understand this and are the kind of person that needs to understand, pray that God shows YOU His plan for us. Remember that the Israelites who were afraid to enter the promised land because they feared the "giants" were the ones who died in the wilderness. Not following His call is much more dangerous.

As the last service ended, a lady tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a piece of paper that comforted me greatly. It just said "Psalm 121 God's protection." And yes, of course, I looked it up immediately. Here's what it says:

The LORD Our Protector

1 I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
your Protector will not slumber.

4 Indeed, the Protector of Israel
does not slumber or sleep.

5 The LORD protects you;
the LORD is a shelter right by your side.

6 The sun will not strike you by day,
or the moon by night.

7 The LORD will protect you from all harm;
He will protect your life.

8 The LORD will protect your coming and going
both now and forever.

There is nothing that can comfort me more than hearing God speak to me through His Word.

Lord, thank you for showing yourself to me. Where you go, I'll go. I will follow you.