A surprising thing happened to me at the 2009 CCCA National Conference in Colorado Springs. On Monday evening, shortly after Bob Kobielush and I had facilitated the offering, I was sitting with my family, listening to Margaret Feinberg, our general session speaker and author of several books. I soon found myself gulping air and trying to maintain my composure. Wow, I wondered. What’s that about, God? What are You trying to tell me? Then I sat and listened for a while longer.
I knew I had missed some of Margaret’s message, so I focused back in as she continued. In just a moment or two, she said something else that gave me the same spiritual punch-in-the-gut. Again, I asked God what He was trying to tell me.
Another conference attendee told me that he was similarly touched that same night at the conference. It involved his participation in the offering, which, he says, God led him to “sit out”—but only for a moment. During worship, he was overwhelmed emotionally, just like I was, and “for about 60 seconds I had trouble maintaining my composure,” he says.
This man sensed God was telling him that he was to make up for whatever shortfall we had in the offering. He wasn’t sure where that money would come from, but he submitted to God’s leading. The next day he remembered he had been promised a large amount of money as a bonus. He says he “had a good chuckle” when I announced that morning how much we were short of the goal, and it was almost exactly the amount he had been promised. He wrote the check when his bonus came in.
I’ve enjoyed a good conversation with this new friend, and we’ve come to the conclusion together that God was indeed moving that evening at the conference. But I can’t bring myself to believe that He means this to be a once-a-year, or worse, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Are you currently running like I do much of the time, from task to task, meeting to meeting, responsibility to responsibility without slowing down to hear from God? In this New Year, I’ve made a commitment (because I’m not a huge fan of resolutions) to pay closer attention to the Lord’s voice. I want to give myself more time to clear away the mental clutter and distractions, and open my heart to what He has for me. And I wonder if you’ll join me.
One book I know I want to read on this topic is by our speaker that night at the conference, Margaret Feinberg. It’s called The Sacred Echo (Zondervan, 2008). My son says it is the most life-changing book he has read as it demonstrates how one can actively communicate with, and hear from, the God of the universe.
I invite you to read this book sometime this year; then share with me your own experience of listening to God’s voice. Know that I’ll be listening along with you.