Listening to God

When I was 22, I was newly married and lived in my hometown in California, close to my family. One night I had a dream that my grandfather had died and my grandmother, who had Alzheimer’s in real life, was lost and confused without him.  The dream had enough of an impact on me that I called them the next day to see how things were going. During the conversation, I felt magnetically pulled to move to Austin.  I talked it over with Ben and we agreed we should go. My parents did not intend to stay in California, and we thought we would stay in Austin for two years and then move back to California, or to wherever my parents were.

            That was 2001. We are, of course, still in Austin. God called me here to care for my grandparents, and my family is now in Ohio. I listened to God, but did not know that I had other purposes for being in Austin, and that my parents and I would be called to live in a different state. I’ve never gotten over living in a separate state than my family. Listening to God and following His direction is not always easy.

            We so desperately need a guide, as Caz talked about in his sermon. The story of Samuel is wonderful, of God speaking to a child. We named our daughter Samantha because it means “spoken to by God.” Our name for her was our hope that God would speak to her. 

            In 2014, may we learn to discern God’s voice, however He speaks to us. Let us listen, and follow. It is so simple, and yet it requires daily commitment to pray and be silent.  God gives us Spirit without measure (John 3:34). How much would our lives change if we were able to receive it?

Beth Kropf