STOP, look, and listen!

I was listening to some Christian music the other day while I was cleaning the house when I heard God say that phrase. STOP…look…listen. He was telling me to not just use that music for background noise but to stop thinking about other things and really listen to the words I was hearing and to see them being real in my life.

It's so easy to just skim along in life doing our routine, getting things done. We’ve all heard the saying about stopping to smell the roses, but I think we dismiss it easily, first because we have heard it over and over. Then also because we can see and feel the thorns in our life more readily than the roses.

You don’t have to completely stop all movement to obey what He said. I’m a doer. I am constantly doing things, getting things done, often multi-tasking. When I heard God say STOP I knew He didn’t mean stop sweeping the floor, but just to stop where I had my attention. Yes, I kept on sweeping, but my mind went to the music, the sweeping was secondary. I chose to really listen to the words, to picture what they meant in my life and it really ministered to my heart and my soul.

God wanted to speak to me, to remind me who I really am because I had been listening to the enemy telling me I was not enough, I was not happy, and I was not fulfilling all God wants me to be. And God had been trying to cut through all that noise until He had to be a little more emphatic about it. Have you ever had anyone in your life that was just going on and on and you had to just say, “STOP and listen to me!” I can recall as a mom and a teacher having to do that more than once. God was not harsh, just emphatic. It caused me to stop listening to the whirlwind and listen to Him.

Life can present for us so easily all the ways that we are not quite where we want to be. Areas where we are not having the victory we want to have, areas where we feel like we are failing. It’s so easy to look at the glass half empty. But God wants us to stop listening to the lies of the enemy or the “facts” around us, and to look to Him. He wants us to listen to Him tell us that He is enough for any area where we are lagging behind in. He is enough to fill the empty spaces. He can bring to us anything that we need in our spirit, our soul, or our body. We just have to stop going downstream, look to Him, and listen to His Word. We need to STOP, look, and listen.

So take time today to stop living your life without thinking about it. Look for His work and His plan in your life. Listen for the voice of God. He’s there. He wants to fill you. He wants to uphold you. He’s talking to you all the time. You CAN hear Him. He said if we seek Him, we WILL find Him. No matter what your need is, small or great. He is enough! Just stop striving for it and let Him do it. That doesn’t mean you get lazy and do nothing. It means you stop trying to drive the truck all the time. Let Him drive. He knows the best route!