Are you really listening?

About a year ago I was sitting at my dinning room table with my friend Jacque doing a bible study. I don't remember the topic of conversation but I do remember her telling me about how she was feeling God telling her something. I remember getting frustrated because I didn't understand how she knew, how she was so confident. As I asked her questions about it my frustration grew, But she kept reassuring my that I will know when it is God.

Today, I think I know when it is God. It has alot to do with confidence, and trust. I am learning that God and "your gut"(instinct) are the same. Have you ever been in a situation and you say "mmm..something is telling me not to do that..."? Well that something is God. He is telling you not to do it, or to do it, or to turn around, whatever it is that He sees best.

I have never "heard" the voice of God that many others have. I talked to people that can and they say that it is in absolute silence that they do. Well, there is my problem right there, I never have absolute silence. As I sit here, I am trying to keep concentration and focus while 6 children run around and play hide-and-seek. I think that God is very aware of my situation, so He speaks to me in other ways.

Here are a few ways:
*The obvious is the "gut", its that feeling of what to do.
*Then there is "other people", God uses other people to send a message to His children that aren't really listening. I think that we are a world of people who listen to other people for advice and we want other people to tell us what to do or what not to do. So God uses others. The obvious one is through sermons in church, God uses preachers to spread His Word, but then there is the conversation that we over hear while sitting in the restaurant that so happens to be similar to the situation that we are in that the moment, and we hear how they are dealing with it. It may even be a conversation that we feel that we are "ease dropping" on, but that we end up remembering and use it later.
*One more, is signs. Really, signs, like street signs, billboards, ect. Those are the ones that you are driving in the car thinking about something and you see a sign. Duhhh!

We need to remember to thank God for the answer though. And trust that it is Him who is speaking to you.

I often times say how God told me to do something, or that God has revealed something to me. Its all about my trust in Him, that I don't doubt Him. That even if I have a feeling to do something and I do it, and it didn't turn out the way that I wanted, it is trust in God that it was the right decision. It took me a long time to figure out that if I trust in the decision that I make following Gods nudge, that He will make it blessed, that it was intended by God to happen that way.

Trust in Him, that He IS Awesome!! HE IS!! Dont doubt Him, Trust your gut and know that it is God talking.