He is listening

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you (Jeremiah 29:12)

In the verse above, “Me” is God talking to Jeremiah.

Background

God is busy. At any moment He is maintaining the order of the physical world.  He is whispering wisdom to world leaders.  He is activating hope through thousands of NGO’s.  He is sending peace to the inconsolable. He is pursuing the prodigal.  And the list goes on.  Given all the things on God’s plate I wonder if many of us feel like God is…well…distant.  That He has more important things to tend to than our current need. Or hurt. Or difficult day.  Or anxiety.

It is so easy for us to transpose our personal limitations on God. We have difficulty answering a text and listening to our child or spouse at the same time.   How on earth can we get our head around a God who isn’t distracted…or distant…or just has bigger things on the docket?

Reflections

A few years ago I had a personal experience that helped to reshape my view on this subject.

Sherri and I had adopted Hannah and Abby from China and for years were talking and occasionally praying about finding an orphanage in China that we could become involved with financially and with our time. Being the practical guy I am, I tried to convince Sherri that it would make more sense to identify an orphanage in the Western Hemisphere where it would be easier to visit and connect.   Sherri wasn’t buying it.  Her heart strings were attached to China.  So we waited.

For my birthday one year Drew got me a video entitled Father of Lights (available on Netflix). The video’s director traveled the globe looking for stories that would illustrate the heart of the Father.  Included in the video was the story of a couple from Florida that felt led to leave their upscale life behind and move to China to care for others.  They opened up an orphanage outside of Fuzhou that focused on special needs kiddos.  They lavished love on these children.  We were impacted.  Sherri and I wondered could this be the orphanage He wanted us to connect to?  I sent a note along to the orphanage’s US contact with a series of questions wanting to learn more.

A few weeks later after dinner I went downstairs to pray. I still hadn’t heard back from the orphanage.  I very seldom pray fleeces but on this evening felt compelled to pray “Lord, if you want us to connect to this orphanage have them return communication within the next 24 hours…otherwise I will assume that you have plans for us to connect to another orphanage”.  I came out of the closet and spent the next half an hour talking with Abby.  As we started walking upstairs Sherri yelled “Hey, Ron, we just received an email message from the orphanage in China”.  She did not know what I just prayed.  I went upstairs and looked closely at when the email was sent.  The message was sent moments after I prayed earlier.  I felt overwhelmed and humbled with the realization that a God who was overseeing billions of events over the previous 30 minute was present.  He heard my prayer.  And he acted.

Since that evening God has affirmed and marked our connection to the Hidden Treasures orphanage. We have visited the orphanage as a family and have become available to help on various administrative projects.  But more importantly, God felt compelled to use this connection to supernaturally signal to me that He is present and active…and listening…just as He promised that He would listen in the bible verse found in Jeremiah.

And the same promise holds true for you.

Don’t be lulled into believing that He is distant. He isn’t.  He looks forward to spending time with you.

What if people truly caught hold of the picture that the God of this universe yearns to connect and listen to us? And is active?  And wants to be part of our lives?