Stop, Pray, Listen

6-9-2009

I choose not to believe in coincidence, as I feel we take God out of the picture if we think things just randomly happen. I believe those of us in tune with God’s will in our lives view the events of our lives as having meaning. In other words, everything happens for a reason. We don’t know the reason, but we should do our best to listen and take notice of what’s going on.

Yesterday we read in Matthew 1:18-25 about Joseph’s shocking news that his soon to be wife was pregnant even though they hadn’t made love. Jesus was placed in Mary by the Holy Spirit, and Joseph’s obedience to God eventually allowed for their marriage. One of the keys we discussed in yesterday’s devotional was the act of listening. We tend to get caught up in the business of the world, and we don’t take the necessary time to stop, pray, and listen for the will of God in our lives (you can read yesterday’s devotional by going to the blog listed at the top of the page). Interesting enough, I had three of my former youth contact me today! They were seventh graders in my youth group in Richardson, Texas when I first started working at the church. I don’t know exactly why God had all three of them contact me on the same day, but what I do know is there must be something behind it. My job is to stop, pray, and listen for what God may want me to do. It may be something as simple as reconnecting and giving them some advice. Who knows! The point is, take notice of the events and people in your life. I can assure you God is in the midst, you simply have to stop, pray and listen.

Joseph did an amazing job of following God’s will and listening to what God had in store for him. In Chapter 2 in the book of Matthew, Jesus is born in Bethlehem, and we read about King Herod’s evil plan to kill Jesus. King Herod, hungry for power, prestige, and all of the glory, was anxious to do anything and everything to keep Jesus from taking any of his glory from him. We will continue this topic tomorrow…

Application:
1. Read Matthew Chapters 2:1-12
2. Stop, Pray, and always be listening for the will of God!