Tuning In

4am Wake Up Calls

This month we’ve been talking about hearing God.  What a messy area this can be.  God speaks regularly, I know He does, but I don’t hear Him as often as I’d like to.  Why is that?  Why is it after a lifetime of learning what walking with Jesus looks like, I still struggle to block out the noise and ask Him to speak, and worse, I don’t wait for Him to do it?  I know better, and yet from years in ministry I know I’m not alone.  We live in a world of instant gratification, immediate answers, and lots of voices.  A quick text message to a friend will solicit an opinion, and a quick google search will provide knowledge, a world of distractions will silence the quiet voice that whispers, “I have more for you.”

But our God is a pursuer of hearts, and He stands ready for conversation, real conversation.  Not just the prayer to-do list or the thank you message, although those certainly are important to Him too.  He wants to talk about our dreams and hopes and our fears.  He wants to speak truth over the lies of a broken world.  He wants to talk of purpose and joy and growth.  He wants to hear about us and wants us to learn about Him.

The last few months He has been talking to me about the future plans for our ministry.  COVID put a significant pause on our plans for 2020, and we found ourselves lacking excitement and purpose trying to plan things and events that may not be able to happen, certainly this year, possible well into next year.  And so often when I heard His voice and direction, my heart initially filled with excitement and my mind began to plan, but a few hours of swirling in the details and facing the 2020 obstacles, quickly had me putting my thoughts on a shelf for later, we’ll deal with it after… after the shutdown, after the group limitations are lifted, after the mask mandates are eased, turns out there is a long list of  “afters.”

Over the last few weeks, God has woken me up several times at 4am.  Not a restless sleep, or a anxious awakening, I find those tend to be from another source, but rather a full on wide awake at 4am thinking and planning.  The thoughts and ideas flood in so quickly, it only takes seconds to know I need to get up and start writing this stuff down.  And then those words lead to more conversation, more direction, more purpose.  I wish it didn’t have to be this way.  I wish I could sleep well past 4am, and sometime, later in the day, sit down with Jesus and have this conversation, but as my dear friend phrased it the other day, sometimes I have a doctorate in avoidance and busyness that keeps me from hearing Jesus.  I don’t like that that’s true, but I know that it is.  And so I will excitedly accept 4am wake up calls, even as I try to do it better moving forward.  

He speaks.  He speaks daily.  He speaks directly to us.   I know I need to pay better attention.  I know I need to stop and see the different ways He engages me.  How are you doing in this area?  Are you turning down the noise, tuning out the distractions.  Do you see your Father sitting with you wanting to talk about all your hopes and dreams and worries and fears?  Are you looking for Him in the sunset or the song lyrics?  Are you willing to answer Him at 4am when He calls?