Gathering Place: BLOG! “Burning Bushes Are Noticed by People Who Pause."

"Praise awaits You, our God. You who answer prayer. Blessed are those who choose to live in Your courts! We are filled with good things of Your house. You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior!"

Psalm 65

Do you want to become a woman who hears that still small voice and recognizes that it is God"s? Of course you do and so do I. All through the Bible, God tells us to listen to Him and in the seasons ahead I especially need to hear from Him. I can become too busy and loaded down and miss the very gifts He's showering me with or the lessons He's trying to teach me.

When Moses saw a burning bush in the desert that was not being consumed he turned aside, stopped what he was doing, and went to investigate. The Bible says, "When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am'" (Exodus 3:4)

Ah, there's the key. Moses turned aside; God had His full attention. Could it be that we become so wrapped up in our daily activities and to-do lists that we don't take the time to turn aside when God speaks? Could it be that we have grown unaccustomed to listening or believing that He will speak at all? I wonder how many burning bushes I've missed in my own backyard.

I'm learning that burning bushes are noticed by people who pause. When God speaks, let's be ready to listen. Let's become women who listen to God's voice.

Excerpts from Sharon Jaynes devotion: Becoming a Woman Who Listens to God and Hears the Holy in the Hurry.

"The hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the seasons by Your power, having armed Yourelf with strength, who stilled the roaring seas, the roaring of their waves.. the whole earth is filled with awe at Your wonders: where morning dawns, where evening fades, You call forth songs of joy. You crown the year with Your bounty."

Psalm 65