April 28, 1998

Isaiah 30:21 “Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it.”’

God has been teaching me to stop talking all the time and listen to Him.  My prayer time had become a time of asking God to teach and guide me but not waiting to hear a reply.  It wasn’t until I took the time to listen that I found out what I needed to do to grow spiritually.

At the beginning of the semester I was driving around Tulsa just to pray for a while and think about a story I needed to write for class.  As I prayed I found myself near downtown Tulsa and decided to ask God what I should do then listen for his response.

I prayed, “Lord, where should I go?”

To my surprise I felt His voice telling me to make certain turns.  I don’t know downtown very well, but even with all the one-way streets every turn was correct.  I ended up driving by a homeless shelter where I have visited previously with an Oral Roberts University Community Outreach group, but never by myself.

As I neared the shelter, I felt God telling me to go in but I said, “I don’t want to.” Obviously that wasn’t a great way to answer God, but I was being honest.  I really didn’t want to go in there by myself.

Several blocks later I turned around and drove by again.  This time God asked, “Do you trust me?”

“Uh-oh,” I thought.  “Don’t ask me that.  “Yes, I trust you but I don’t want to go in there.”

During this time, I was making my escape back toward campus but before I got far God had asked me the same question twice more.  Finally I relented and said, “All right,  I’ll do it.”

As I drove up to the shelter I determined to tell them I was supposed to meet someone since I figured that was true or God wouldn’t have brought me here.

At the front desk I told the worker, “I’m supposed to meet someone here.”

The man asked if I knew who I was to meet and I answered, “No.”

Still, he let me in.  It was amazing for me to watch what happened when I listened to God’s voice.  As soon as I walked past the desk, a man named Billy came up to me and we spoke for nearly 45 minutes.

I had my story for class, but more than that I had learned that if I am willing to listen then God might just speak to me.  That night I wrote in my journal, “How could I not listen for so long and miss out on the blessing of hearing His voice?”