Listening to the Holy Spirit

I've learnt that God's grace is sufficient for us. At every moment of our lives, He gives the grace sufficient for each moment. That is how I can do things, and look back and wonder how that ever came out of me. And I realise that God gave me the grace sufficient for that moment, to do that thing.

Therefore it is important to obey the Holy Spirit's prompting. Maybe He's prompting me to "worship in song" at this moment, or to just rest in His presence, because He wants to give me a song out of it - I don't know. If I choose not to obey, I might have "missed" that song. So whatever the Holy Spirit asks me to do, I must do. If I don't, well honestly, it's my loss. This applies to other areas of life as well, and not just songwriting.

A lot of people ask, "How do you know it's God speaking to you?" Hm this is a tough one. It's one of those things where you can't really describe fully - you have to experience it for yourself. I'm definitely still in the process of listening to God's voice and learning to recognise it. And many times I fail or choose to disobey (oops).

What I can offer is:

1. "Reckless obedience"

as John Ortberg puts it. For example if you "feel" like you should give a coin to the beggar on the street or write a note to a friend, just do it! Many times we question if it's God or us thinking it. But thing is, whether it's God or you thinking it, it's a good thing anyway, so just do it.

I remember when I was a teenager, my mom and I were in a double bus on the way home. She told me to pass a bunch of grapes to the bus uncle before we got off. In my childish rebellion, I refused. After all, why would I do such a thing? Besides, it was a long bus and we were sitting all the way at the back. And what if the uncle refused? Before we got off, my mom gave the grapes to the bus uncle. When we got off, she just said, "When the Holy Spirit asks you to do something, you just do it". My. Did I feel guilty after that. Very.

So just take the risk, and be recklessly obedient.


2. The more we obey, the clearer we will hear God's voice.

It's like recognising someone's voice - the more you listen and know that particular voice is coming from that person, the more you will come to recognise it more easily. Know that God loves you and wants to speak to you about many many things, and at many times. You also need to have faith that God is speaking to you.

It's important that our lives are an overflow of a intimate relationship with God. Doing things manufactured by ourselves will be tiring and not worth the effort. They get frustrating sometimes. But doing God-ordained things means that those things will be moved by God, in His strength. And it makes things much easier, and the results get much more amazing. Just because it's a God-thing - it's all about God!

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)