Stop. Look. Listen.

Are you at a crosswalk in life? Is God trying to speak to you about a current situation? Could He be reaching out to give you wisdom, and you’re not realizing it?

Just as we teach little children to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN before they cross a street, maybe we need to do the same in crossing the roads of life:

STOP to hear God’s voice
LOOK at what He’s already given us (His faithfulness and promises)
LISTEN to what He has to say

How do we hear the voice of God? Obviously we should spend time in prayer. Here are a few other ways that God can speak into our lives:

1. Symbolism

God can get your attention through pictures and symbols. When The Holy Spirit steers your focus somewhere and then speaks spiritually through the moment, listen carefully.

2. People Confirm

The Lord will use family, close friends and even total strangers to speak a word into your life that will pierce an area of your heart God is trying to deal with.

3. Pattern of a certain direction

Do you feel The Lord leading you in a certain direction? It might seem that He told you to start something you’ve never done before. You’ll soon start noticing more and more a trend or pattern of occurrences pushing you in that direction.

4. Increase of internal awareness and momentum

When your spirit starts to engage and respond to the voice and will of God, you will begin to feel internally motivated to understand God’s direction, advice or warning.

5. No peace - something is just not right

Are you experiencing a feeling of uneasiness? Sometimes distraction can deafen our ears to the voice of The Holy Spirit. In this case, the absence of peace is a loud and clear signal to listen to.

6. The response requires change

God’s beckoning always requires a response and almost always requires a change in our lives. This is why we sometimes try to ignore Him, because change is the last thing we want to do. One thing is certain, the reward of obedience is far better than staying where we are.

God's voice is like a multitude of waters (Revelation 1:15). There are many ways He can get a point across. After all is said and done, Stop, Look, and Listen for God's voice. Remember that He is with you, like any good parent, to see you safely to the other side of life's circumstances.

Hebrews 13:5 says: Be content with what you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Let’s practice the three rules of crossing the roads of life: