How to Have a Personal Relationship With Jesus Christ July 15, 2007
Hearing God in our Life Circumstances
There is a book in the Bible where God is not even mentioned! It is the book of Esther. It is the story of a young Jewish woman who is living in exile under the Persians. King Xerxes gets fed up with his wife and decided to get a new one. After a long beauty pageant for all the most beautiful women in the empire, Xerxes chooses Esther as his Queen.
Esther has a uncle named Mordecai – Mordecai had once foils a plot to assassinate Xerxes, so he was in the good books. But Mordecai refused to bow down as one of the leaders named Haman went passed him on the street. Haman is so angry that he tricks Xerxes into legalizing genocide of the Jews. Mordecai gets wind of the plot & goes to Esther to see if she can talk to the king. Esther is terrified because even as queen if she enters the throne room without being invited, she could be killed just as easily as received.
Mordecai responds “Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”
To make a long story short, Esther goes to the king, he doesn’t kill her, the jewish people are saved and Haman is killed.
The reason that I begin with this story is that it shows that God speaks to us through our life circumstances!
Esther may not have known why she was so blessed and why she was pulled out of obscurity into the limelight until the day that here uncle came to her. But at that point it was clear that God had placed her there for a purpose.
In this series on having a relationship with God, we’ve talked about how God speaks to us through the Scripture, through worship and through creation. Today we look at how he speaks to us through life circumstances
Lynn’s story of getting lost
My goose/kayak story?
Many times when God is speaking to us through life circumstances, they could be explained away – that rock was painted by some love-sick teenager, that goose was just obnoxious… there was nothing there. But it is usually our hearts that tell us something different.
“coincidences”
Feeling God’s hand in purchase of house… - no other bids in a hot market
Perfect Storms
Heart connection
PNC – meeting David Vanessen at Context
Ricardo
Open doors/closed doors
I’ll often ask God to let me know the way to go by making the door obviously open or closed
Varavva & Pronina – P115-116
Discernment
You will hear even non-Christian people saying, after some experience, “I think some one is trying to tell me something.” Ask him what he is telling you if it is not obvious, ask if there is a passage of Scripture that relates…
Consistent with Scripture
Consistent with God’s character
Calvin & Hobbes – suffering is not always judgment, “what have I done to deserve this?” is not usually a good question
– if you have done something to deserve this, you usually know what it is! – God’s conviction is never vague, always can lead to repentance.
Having a mature “Soul friend” to help you discern – God will lead us with our heart, but there are times when our heart will lead us down a different path.
Go Plant Corn joke
“scanning these crowds for some sign of your face” – Bruce Cockburn
“I serve a risen savior…”
We believe that God is not distant, but that he is intimately involved in our live – expect him to show up and to speak through the experiences of your life.
