Hey You, It's me..God

It’s that feeling. You know the one. The one that keeps popping into your head when you are trying to fall asleep, when your standing in line at Starbucks and when you are browsing through your facebook feed. It’s the one that, when not addressed, slowly starts taking over your days. All of a sudden your children are making more messes than you thought possible right in front of your eyes because you are just spaced out on some other planet. You start having to stop and think “did I shampoo my hair yet? Did I feed the dog?” Distraction, more coffee, and keeping busy out of the house just don’t seem to make this feeling go away. What is it that is taking over your brain?

If you have a new born and are getting up every two hours to nurse…then that is probably it. If not…then it’s probably God. Once we form a close connection with God, events, relationships, daily happenings and even scripture start registering differently in our minds. “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:10).

If something happens in our life that goes against what God would want from us then He is going to let us know about it.  The Holy Spirit has a mysterious way of affecting our subconscious and making us feel dissonant when something is not right. Our ‘old self’ might not have been affected by this; but our new self sees life through new lenses and is unable to brush off conflicts with God.

If this is sounding similar to you and you are trying to figure out if you are making a right decision, if a relationship is healthy, if your daily activities are pleasing to God or deciding between right and wrong in a moral dilemma then start by praying about it. Ask God to give you a nudge to show you more clearly what he wants you to know.

Second, check out what the Bible has to say about what ever topic your situation relates to. Everything written in the Bible was inspired by God and it is the best self-help book you could ever read. Third, find a trusting person that you can talk to about it. They just might have the wisdom you need to clear up the conflicting thoughts you are having.

Proverbs 21:11 says “when a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; when a wise man is instructed, he gets knowledge”. This verse is reminding us that it is best to learn from other people's mistakes than from our own.  Listen to other people’s advice, stories, and counsel. It always amazes me how God can use our family, friends and teachers past mistakes to help prevent ours.

I like to look at these “hey you, wait a minute” moments from God as a blessing. It means that I am connecting with God on a deep level. It means that I have the wisdom, knowledge, and ability to stop whatever mistake I may be making and change it. The closer we are to God, the more ache our heart, soul and minds feel when we start walking away from our Creator.

God, thank you for interacting in our life in so many ways. Thank you for getting our attention when we move away from you. Even though it might hurt in the beginning, it ultimately means that we are drawing closer to you. We love you and seek to glorify you in all that we do. Amen.