GOD - ARE YOU LISTENING?

Jonah 2:2 “…I called out of my distress to the Lord and He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of the sea, you heard my voice.”

I have heard several people describe nightmares in which they were in some sort of danger and as they tried to call for help they couldn’t speak. I don’t recall ever having that type of dream, but I can imagine it would be awful. Knowing that you only had to get someone’s attention to be saved and yet no one could hear you.

I read a story recently from a woman that grew up in a broken home. Her parents divorced when she was eight years old. Due to extraordinary circumstances, she wound up living with her grandparents. Both her parents married someone else. They stopped living for God. For the next several years, this young girl prayed for her parents. She said this:

“I doubled up on praying for my mother and her husband, my father and his wife. Years passed, and still they made no move toward God. I began to get discouraged. I felt that when I prayed, my prayers were falling on deaf ears: “ Hello, God! Are You there? Are You listening?” Finally, one night as I buried my face in my pillow after about eight years of prayer, I got desperate in prayer. “I am just a teenager, God! My parents should be praying for me! I don’t have anywhere else to turn. I don’t want my family going to hell. Oh, God, do you hear me?” Suddenly, I felt someone pat me on the shoulder. I heard a voice say, “ My child, everything will be okay.” God had taken time to visit me to let me know that He had heard my prayers. Not long afterward my parents began to move back toward God”

Have you ever really felt like that? Have you felt that you were struggling and no one could hear you? Have you ever felt as though your voice didn’t get through to people? Have you felt that not even God was listening? I definitely have. I have felt abandoned and lost in the middle of a trial. I have felt as though, no matter how loud I called, God had simply tuned me out. I now realize that those feelings are the result of me seeing with my flesh as opposed to my spirit. It is also the result of my memory loss. How quickly we can forget how powerfully God has moved in the past.

Jonah found himself in a situation that was truly conducive to hopelessness. True, he was there because he was blatantly disobedience; but isn’t that how we, so often, end up in difficulty. The point for Jonah, as well you and me, is even though it is dark and desperate – God is listening. God remains faithful because of his unexplainable love for us. He desires that we call upon him.

Calling on God is effective and the enemy knows it to be true. He works to magnify our difficulties and enlarge our dark times in order to promote a loss of hope. But don’t stop crying out to God. Don’t be discouraged in your prayers. You may feel as if you are hitting the ceiling. Just keep calling on Him. Be assured that God hears you. What chance do we have of reaching God if we stop calling? No chance at all. So, keep praying and keep believing. God is not only hearing you, but He is moving for you.