Pea Ridge Baptist Church

2 Comments on “06-22-08 Service – Learning to Hear God's Voice: How God Talks to You”

1. Jessica says:

   June 23, 2008 at 9:18 am

   Do you remember Greg saying, “Have you ever felt like a sermon message was meant especially for you?” This one was meant for me. I was moved to tears during this sermon yesterday. As the past 6 months of my life have unfolded since my accident, I must admit that, on several occasions, I have asked God why the poor judgement of one person turned my life upside-down. There were times when the pain in my head was so severe that I couldn’t even open my eyes; times when the pain in my back was so bad that I was unable to walk independently or even dress myself without help. The chain reaction led to the incomplete semester of graduate school, the loss of my job, the loss of financial stability, and the most difficult time we have ever endured in our marriage. Having battled depression for most of my life, I admit there have been moments when I desperately wanted to give in to it and feel sorry for myself.

   I know it’s not for me to question why this happened because God is in control and He has carried me through this time – I sure couldn’t have walked it alone! We all have times when we feel distant from God, when we’re desperately aching for Him to talk to us, but all we hear is silence. God has taught me patience through this experience – His will happens on His timetable, not mine. He has lovingly taught me this patience lesson (yet again), has spoken to me softly, and comforted me in ways that I never knew.

   God and I have always had this understanding between us…He knows that while I always want to hear Him speak to me, I always want to be sure that it’s really Him, and not me overanalyzing the situation and interpreting it as what I want to hear. So, I’ve always said, “God, you know that I don’t do subtlety, so just hit me over the head when you find that I’m just not ‘getting it’ in those less subtle ways.”

   And He did.

   Well, not over the head, but I guess a speeding car worked just as well in this case.

   He has used this time to stop all distraction and reminded me that He knows what is best for me. Without a doubt, I know that He is going to use this experience for something wonderful. I have to accept that I may never know what it is while I’m here…but it’ll sure make for good conversation when I get to Heaven!

   I will leave with you a verse from Proverbs that He gave me exactly one week prior to my accident and remains taped to my computer monitor today:

   “If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place.” Proverbs 24:10 MSG

   Thank you, Greg, for this series. It’s been a blessing.

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2.   Reflections on 34 by Jake Stapleton.com says:

   August 11, 2008 at 10:39 pm

   [...] has made for a very long 2008 to this point.  As Jess alluded to in her recent witness on the church website it has been very rough for us this year.  I am not depressed, I am not ungrateful for all the [...]

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