Frederickson Blog

Understood.

I got it.

Seriously, I heard you the first time.

I know I’m not the only one who gets a little frustrated when people repeat themselves. My pride flares and I even catch myself thinking things like, “I’m such a good listener! How can they not think I was paying attention?”

And yet, the convicting truth is that God can say the same thing repeatedly, can work in my life through various means, and I will still question if I heard him right. God, please just let one more person mention that. God, maybe just one more well-timed song. God, could you give me a dream about it?

There’s a reason Peter looked at the storm and started to drown. Even though he was walking toward Jesus and actively participating in a miracle, he still struggled to have faith and keep his eyes on Jesus.

But when [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 22:30)

There’s a reason Thomas needed to feel Jesus’ scars to believe he was truly resurrected, despite the testimony of others, the prophecies, and Jesus’ countless proclamations that he would die and rise again.

The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But [Thomas] said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)

There’s a reason Gideon requested multiple signs from God in Judges 6 to know God was truly with him.

Let me be clear: Gideon’s behavior does not mean we are justified in demanding signs from God for any given situation. However, his story shows us what blocks our ears from God’s voice: fear, insecurities, mistrusting God. Peter and Thomas also let worries and doubts creep in, and they were both lovingly rebuked by Jesus:

“You of little faith,” [Jesus] said. “Why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

God’s patience, grace, and kindness toward us is beyond our comprehension. We can be just like Peter, Thomas, or Gideon, and we can crave multiple signs or some kind of tangible proof of God’s voice and work in our lives. When we do, God doesn’t send fire down from heaven in fury. He doesn’t respond with cold-shouldered silence. He doesn’t even repeat himself as an exasperated sibling, parent, or manager might. No. God speaks to us and repeats himself in the same loving tone you’d expect a good father to use when talking to his child. He shows up for us.

This month we’ve been exploring our new identity in Christ as children of God. I hope you aren’t tired of hearing that truth yet—you are a child of the living God! We don’t have to question whether God is with us or if he’s speaking to us. We know God is acting as a perfect father would: lovingly speaking truth over us and repeating directions as we waver in our course.

Learning to block out the lies of the enemy, the noise of the world, and our own false feelings to hear the still, small voice of God is a discipline that takes practice and a whole lot of help from the Holy Spirit.

My mom often remarks, “Don’t you just wish God could send you an email?” And, of course, life would be much simpler if the Holy Spirit operated a communications system. Imagine: You get a text in the morning from the Holy Spirit telling you to wait five minutes before you leave the house—this will prevent a life-ending collision with another vehicle. However, the reality is we don’t receive any such text. Instead, we run rampant around our kitchen trying to find a misplaced water bottle and leave the house five minutes late, disgruntled and discouraged… but we miss the collision.

I’m not saying every time you get held up is a life-saving act of God, but I want to make the case that God is always at work in our lives, and nothing is too mundane to be part of his sovereign plan. The more we become aware of God’s work in our lives, the easier it becomes to pick his voice out of the rest.

So when a song suddenly speaks to your heart, a pastor’s sermon resonates all too well with your situation, or a Bible verse pops up with a truth you need to hear, don’t discredit those moments or label them as coincidences. God can and will work through the ordinary.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5:14)

Finally, be sure to share what God is doing in your life with others. That’s the beauty of being part of a Christian school district: We are constantly surrounded by people who can encourage us in our faith. During this month of generosity, take note of the ways God shows up through simple things like pancakes and extraordinary things like the recent gift toward Fields of Dreams.

God is at work, CCS. I can’t wait to see how he shows up next.