How can we expect to hear the Holy Spirit when our lives are filled with constant noise?

If we would like to see the gifts of the spirit and the fruit of the spirit working in our lives then we must make a choice to turn down the noise. if we wish to hear the Holy Spirit lead and guide us, we must make the conscious, intentional choice to carve out time to be quiet and listen to Him.

Also, we must face every day, humbly willing to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. We must put our will into submission to the Holy Spirit and commit to following His guidance.

Do you ever feel distant from the Lord?

Do you feel as though your prayers are not answered and you can’t hear Him speaking or see Him working in your life? I would suggest to you that this has more to do with your posture toward God than His posture toward you.

The Bible tells says in Matthew 10:29-31: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” The father is attentive to you. Psalm 139:4 tells us, “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.” The Lord is watching you, listening to you, you are precious to Him; He attends to you. But, do you attend to Him? Do you reciprocate His attention? Does your life allow time for you to listen to His voice? Are you interested in what He has to say to you?

In the first two paragraphs, I mention two life choices that are imperative in order for us to hear from and be directed by the Holy Spirit. In the following paragraph, I will explain these choices in more detail.

Life can be noisy! I have a five-year-old and three-year-old twins. I am used to going through my days accompanied by a very loud soundtrack of requests, complaints of sibling injustices, outright tantrums and thankfully, boisterous fun and laughter, not to mention Peppa Pig or Paw Patrol blaring in the background. By the time the day is done, I feel as though all I have left is the ability to flop on the couch and watch some mindless TV.

But honestly, what does that profit me? In reality, it is only adding to the noise of my already noisy life. There is a God; His name is Jesus, and He is waiting for me to turn it down and come to Him. In Him is true rest and refreshment. In Him is the guidance of His Holy Spirit.

God tells us in Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” He also tells us in James 5:16, “The fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much.” Just the act of getting quiet before the Lord, asking Him for His guidance, inviting Him into the challenges of your life, shows our heart that is surrendered to God. Our time seeking God’s counsel shows we are willing to listen to Him and follow His lead.

1 Kings 19:11-12 tells us, “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” The Lord whispered gently to Elijah; He did not roar at him in the wind, fire or earthquake, but in a still, small voice. My question to you: Is your life ever quiet enough to hear the whisper of the Lord?

He is speaking to you. Can you hear Him?

Choose to turn down the noise today, give room for God’s Holy Spirit to speak into your life. If your life is anything like mine, then you desperately need His comfort, guidance and wisdom on a daily basis. He is present; you need to be present too. That is the only way to have a close relationship with God.

Secondly, we must face every day consciously submitted to the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit. For example, the spirit makes the word come alive to us, revealing God’s truth, but if we choose not to obey God’s truth, then we are like the man in James 1:22-24: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” Hand in hand with hearing the leading and direction of the Spirit of God must be a commitment to obey.

The spirit prompts. He directs. He instructs us on a daily basis; are you willing to go and speak to that person He has put on your heart? Are you willing to pray for that person He is burdening you for? Are you willing to surrender your will to His calling, the calling that keeps knocking on your door? Are you willing to obey?

In Galatians 5, we are given a list of the fruit of the spirit and then in verse 25, the text says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” What does it mean to be “in step” with the spirit? Well, it means to walk together. You cannot walk together if you are going in different directions. Are you “in step” with God’s Spirit that dwells in you? He wants to lead you. Are you willing to walk with Him, to go when He says go, to yield when He says yield, to serve when He says serve?

Jesus loves you. As many times as that statement is made, it will be true. Jesus died for you, for you! He knows every tiny part of you, every dark corner; He knows your shame, your anger. He loves you, He died for you. He made you righteous. I just want to encourage you to remember His goodness so you can be inspired to give Him your time. Turn down your noise, and humbly commit to following His lead. There is no downside. There is no downside. There is no downside.

Nothing compares to the greatness of God. Nothing is more mind-boggling than His infinite attention toward us. No other thing in your life can compare to knowing Him. Give Him your time. Give Him your obedience, and see how He will guide you as your Good Shepherd.

Don’t stop halfway! There is a story found in Genesis 11 and 12 about the call of Abraham; it is a tale about not stopping halfway. In Genesis Chapter 12 verses 1-4, we see God call Abram. “The Lord said to Abram, leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” This, no doubt, was a daunting call for Abram. At the time he lived in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:28). Ur was a cosmopolitan, prosperous city. It was a city of wealth, culture and opportunity. It was from here that Abraham was called to go to, “the land I will show you.” Abram did not even know where God was calling him to; he simply had a promise that, if he would get up and go, God would show him. Abram would eventually discover, this land was Canaan, the promise land!

Interestingly, Abram likely didn’t even know the God who was calling him very well. He came from a city and a family of idol worshipers. Yet, here we have the God of the universe calling to him. Abram’s response to God’s call was only partially obedient on two counts. He did get up and leave the city of Ur, but he brought his idol worshiping family with him, even though God specifically told him to leave them behind.

The second way in which Abram was only partially obedient to God was that he stopped halfway.

They set out for Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there (Genesis 11:31). It is clear that the initial disobedience in not leaving his family behind has a direct connection to his second disobedience of stopping halfway.

When God calls us out of this world into His kingdom of light, it is not good for us to try to hang onto some things from our old life, whatever they may be. Giving our life wholly to Christ is the way that we ensure we will live out His call on our life. When we keep parts of our life back, and do not fully open them to the Lord and give them into His hands, then these things can often lead us to stop halfway.

The name of the city where Abram and his family settled was Haran. Haran has a number of different meanings, it means very dry, parched; and interestingly, it also means road. When we are on a road, we are meant to be moving. A road is built to walk down, not to stop on. But that is exactly what Abram did. He stopped and settled halfway down a road. When you live a life of compromise and semi-obedience to God, you will find yourself in a very dry, parched place in your relationship to God.

The good news is, that if we look at Abram’s story, we see that, while his disobedience delayed God’s plan for his life, it did not derail it. Abram spent a long time in Haran, halfway down the road to where God was calling him; but when his father died, God’s call came again, and this time Abram got up, got moving and went to Canaan. When we think about how old Abraham and Sarah were when they had Isaac, you can’t help but wonder if the delay was due to these many years spent halfway in Haran.

But isn’t it wonderful to see how God still weaves His plan and fulfills the call on Abram’s life.

The name Abram means “father.” Isn’t it incredible to know that even as a baby, God had named and called Abram. He knew that no matter what mistakes and delays Abraham would make along the way, he would one day fulfill his name and indeed be a “father of many nations.”

Romans 11:29 tells us that “the gifts and callings of God are without repentance.”

Be encouraged that no matter how much you feel you’ve messed up, no matter how far down the wrong road you’ve gone, or no matter how long you’ve been settled halfway, God’s callings and gifts in your life are still there. God will not repent of giving them to you, no, instead, He is simply waiting for you to obey.

When Abraham was called in Genesis chapter 12, he was also given a promise. The promise stated, “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse. And all people’s on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-4). It is so wonderful to see that God kept every promise to Abraham. He entered Canaan, which became Israel, his name is known and respected by the three main world religions: Jews, Christians and Muslims. Those countries who have blessed Israel have been blessed. With regard to those who have cursed Israel, Donald G. Barnhouse states, “When the Greeks overran Palestine and desecrated the altar in the Jewish temple, they were soon conquered by Rome. When Rome killed Paul and many others, and destroyed Jerusalem under Titus, Rome soon fell. Spain was reduced to a fifth-rate nation after the Inquisition against the Jews; Poland fell after the pogroms; Hitler’s Germany went down after its orgies of anti-Semitism; Britain lost her empire when she broke her faith with Israel.”

The promise goes on that all families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham, we see this promise fulfilled because Jesus, the Messiah of the world, came through the line of Abraham. You and I have also received the blessing of salvation by believing in Jesus and receiving His great salvation. But like Abraham, we have been blessed to be a blessing. This great Gospel is something that should be burning in our hearts, something that we can’t contain, something that we have an urgent desire to share with others. We, like Abraham, have been blessed to be a blessing, so let’s share this great blessing of salvation and not keep it to ourselves.

Thank God Abraham didn’t stay in Haran forever! Thank God he eventually followed God’s call, and thank God, through his lineage, we all received the gift of the Messiah. But I would like for you now to check your heart and ask yourself, have you, like Abraham, stopped halfway? You accepted the call of God to salvation, and you set off down the road with Him. But where are you now? Are you dry, parched, settled somewhere halfway down the road? I want to say to you that it’s not too late. God’s call is still good! Get out, get up, get moving! Believe me, there will be many on this earth who will be glad you did, because remember, you have been called to reach the lost. You have been blessed to be a blessing, and so if you’re stopped halfway, then there are people in this world who are missing out because they need you. They need you to fulfill the call God has placed on your life.

I don’t want to stop halfway.

I know Jesus is not just an annex to my life. He is my life. Paul says in Philippians 1:21, “ For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Colossians 3:3 says, “your life is hid in Christ.” That’s the crux of it. All the other things in life that shout so loudly, that hold us back, that make us stop halfway, are just noise and meaningless distractions. And you know, if you are living in a place called “Halfway” right now, there is no peace there!

Today is the day to allow God to renew the call He has placed on your life, just as He did for Abraham after his father died. Today is the day to let the things that are holding you back die and loose their grip on your life. Today is the day to fully commit to Christ who fully committed to you, and to once again, take up your cross and follow Him, then, wait with faith-filled excitement to see what great things He will do in and through your life, just as He did with Abraham.