Learning To Listen

Learning To Listen To The Voice Of The Lord

We all must learn to listen to and for the voice of the Lord. He does speak to us. But we do not always hear Him or else we do not listen as we should when He does speak to us. It says in His Word that His sheep shall know His voice. Yes we know His voice but we do not always listen to Him when we should.

On Friday, the 27th of April, the children and I were leaving our house to go check the mail at the Post Office. As I locked the door , I heard a voice say," Go back in and get the camera." I heard it distinctly. But I did not heed the voice, which I knew it was the Lord prompting me, yet I did not heed . I went ahead and walked to my SUV and headed out to the Post Office.

On the way I usually take the road that goes by the Lake we live near. As I was driving by I noticed , out of the corner of my eye, a large bird perched on the limb of a dead tree that was sticking up out of the water. I pulled up and stopped the vehicle and my breath caught as the bird was a Bald Eagle. I knew right then and there that I should have heeded the Lord's voice. The children were all excited because it is not every day that one gets to see a Bald Eagle. So I said a pray. I said, " Lord if You keep the Eagle here I will drive back to the house and get my camera so I can get a picture of it. And from now on I will listen when I hear You prompting me to do something no matter what it is."

So I drove back to the house, ran in and got my camera. We drove back down the Lake road and the Bald Eagle was eating a fish it had caught and was perched on the same tree branch. I thanked the Lord for keeping it there. The children were ecstatic as was I. We watched it for a while before I decided to get out of the vehicle and try to get some pictures of it. Of course I only have a small digital Kodak camera that does not zoom in too well. I took a couple of pictures of the Bald Eagle perched on the tree branch before it noticed me. I walked towards it a little more and spooked it because it took to flight. It was so awesome to see this amazing bird take to wing. It rose in the air spread it's wings and turned in the opposite direction from me and flew. I saw the sun glistening off of it's white head and white tail feathers and I was in awe. I did not get any close up pictures but just being able to see the Eagle in all it's glory was enough. I was praising God that I got to see His creation, this magnificent Bald Eagle.

I turned and walked back to the SUV and the children were so excited. They had the SUV bouncing because they were in there bouncing up and down. I opened the door and they were praising the Lord also, for getting to see the Bald Eagle. We were so in awe and praiseful. I handed the camera to Elizabeth and then we drove on to the Post Office.

As I was driving I told them about me not listening to the Lord when I should have, when He spoke to me about going back into the house and getting my camera. I told them , God gave me a second chance to do His bidding but He does not always do this. Sometimes if we do not heed His voice , we will not get a second chance. I shared this with them so they would know that they need to heed God's voice when He speaks to them.

It is not always something great that God wants us to do when He speaks to us. He speaks to us to see whether we will heed His voice or not. We are tested in this way by the Lord , sometimes we pass the test but we also fail it sometimes. I failed that test but God gave me another chance. I and all of us need to learn to heed God's voice when He speaks to us because we may not get another chance.

I learned my lesson and also my children got to learn through me, by my sharing with them about me not heeding God's voice. God allowed me to use what I did , to turn it into an opportunity to teach my children. I make mistakes, I am not perfect and God knows this. Yet He still loves each of us and if we are repentant He accepts us and forgives us. I encourage each one of us, that the next time we hear God's voice urging us to do something, no matter how odd it may seem to us, to please heed His voice. Because we may never get another chance to make right what we did not listen to from the Lord.