That still, small voice of God is not always easy to hear.  We know it is there because we learn about it in church and Bible study, but listening to it takes some practice.  Some people are better at it than others.  Some can hear it no matter the din that is going on around them, while others have to sit quietly and wait for it.  I'm one of those people that occasionally has to just sit and wait for it, and I have done so over the past couple of weeks. 

For anyone who spends a lot of time telling others about the faith or is in a leadership position, we talk about God a lot.  We study the Word searching for lessons, listen to favorite pastors for nuggets of wisdom we can build on, and tell people we meet about our work and how we try to reach people.  Sometimes, though, you can spend so much time talking about, at and around God, you forget to talk to God.  Or better yet, with Him.

When you find yourself talking about, at and around, it is time to stop and renew your own spirit.  This is what I have done recently, and it is something that every Christian should do from time to time.  Forget your required reading for Sunday school.  Forget about the vestibule that needs decorating and the class that still needs a teacher and the short list of volunteers for kid's night.  Set aside all of the tasks and obligations that are part of the religion and concentrate on the faith just for a little while. 

Maybe a day is all you need; maybe a week or two; a month.  However long it takes, give your time solely to God and allow him to speak to you without the distractions.  He loves that you want to work for Him and He sees all you do.  He also wants to know you and for you to know Him.  Tell God about your day instead of telling another person the work you did for God.  That is talking about Him instead of to Him.  Find time alone to say that prayer that you keep telling your friend you need to pray.  That is talking around God instead of to Him.  And after you tell Him about your day and pray, wait for His answer to you instead of running off to the next meeting.  That is talking at God instead of to Him. 

His still, small voice will tell you what He wants you to know.  It is not an audible sound, but something you feel in your heart.  A thought suddenly comes to your mind that is nowhere near what you had been thinking before.  You feel an urge to read a certain book in the Bible.  You hear a story that tugs at your mind to learn more about a subject you paid little attention to in the past.  Those are the ways that His voice speaks to us, and they come to us through His gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was what God wanted to tell me about the last couple of weeks.  The concept of the Spirit is often the hardest of the Holy Trinity for us to understand.  God took me on a journey to revisit the lessons of the Spirit and to teach me.  Over the next several days, I am going to share some of what the Lord showed me and how my own spirit was renewed by His Spirit.  I hope you will join me and take some time to listen to His voice for yourself.  He is always there and always willing to talk.  We just have to practice listening to the still, small voice.

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