This is my story
When God's trying to tell you something, it's pretty difficult to not listen. Not least because whatever He's saying seems to pop up everywhere like big neon signs!
Some may be surprised to think of God as communicating with us, but He does. Not to beat us over the head because we've messed up again (if He did that, there'd be nothing left of my head now as I mess up daily. Scratch that....hourly!).
He communicates with us lots. Yes, if we're messing up badly He will gently prompt us and give us help, but He also communicates about everyday stuff too. In fact, I'm beginning to realise He communicates with me more than I ever realised, I just either (a) don't listen, or (b) don't realise it's Him.
So this is my story of Him communicating with me just this last week:
Saturday night as I went to bed, I read Psalm 107. Now I've read this psalm many times, and verse 2 is quoted a lot in church circles. But for some reason I couldn't get past it. As I lay there thinking that I should really be getting to sleep, I felt my spirit within me just latching onto this verse
(Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has delivered from the hand of the adversary).
As I lay there and meditated on that verse, I felt the Lord say that I need to be "saying so" and telling my story. That night as I lay there, I prayed "Lord I want to say so. I want opportunities to tell of your greatness. I want to share this amazing love, forgiveness and this wonderful good news with people. Give me appointments, and opportunities to tell my story of what you have done for me."
Christianity is almost scorned or laughed at in today's society. You're branded as a religious nut, or a bible basher if you mention Jesus. But hey, who cares? Call me what you like, I'm not bothered, and I won't be offended because I would probably say the same in your shoes if I didn't know that actually God is not about religion, but He's about relationship.
And boy, what a roller-coaster of a relationship. Not in a bad way - no, it's wild, it's beautiful, it's real, it's tough sometimes (He doesn't skirt around with polite pleasantries, He asks you the tough questions but always for your benefit), but it's a crazy adventure that is worth more than anything in the universe.
I couldn't live with a dry, dusty religion. I couldn't live with an image of an emaciated Jesus nailed to a cross who just wanted to punish me everytime I messed up. That's what religion offers. That's what some churches portray Him like. But it's so far from Who He really is, I could weep for Him as He's so mis-represented. So my story in part, is to say that please don't judge Him through the religious lens that has been portrayed to you. Get to know Him for real.
But in addition to people thinking you're a religious nut, or just plain crazy.....you know, people just don't have time anymore! There's no time to talk; people are busy, dashing about, things to do, places to be. How do we overcome that, because any good story is worth telling properly? How do we get to tell our story to people we meet when they're rushing around?
The next day at church, we were urged to stop being so polite and get up off our bums and go do something for God (I'm paraphrasing a bit but that's what I took from the message). In fact we were urged to pray for opportunities to share the gospel.
Ha! I chuckled to myself as I wondered what God was up to, given I'd done that very thing last night! In fact, I'd even had a dream about it. My first 'God-dream'! Quite exciting, but what a responsibility God is giving me! A message personally through His Word, then a dream, then at church next day. Lo and behold, this evening I stumble across a Christian article online saying the same thing!! So I'm further urged to go into my world and preach the gospel.
What can I conclude? It's God's way of giving me a friendly punch on the shoulder and saying "come on then, Francesca, do it". And I know He's grinning at me as He's doing this. No - that's not blasphemous. He calls me by name, and He has a sense of humour. After all, He created humour!
So I will. I will continue to lift Him up and proclaim His goodness wherever I go. I will use my blog and social media to tell anyone who will read what an amazing God we have, and that YOU can know Him too. I will endeavour to tell my story to those around me, and I will preach His Word as He leads.
I will continue to listen, because He's communicating, and communication is a two-way thing. We need to listen, and respond, just like He listens and responds to us.