a green light changes everything.
The day I launched my website – technically the wee hours of the morning – I was filled with so many different thoughts, feelings, questions. What will become of this? And of course, will anything become of this? No, Satan, you have no place here. How will God use this to truly speak to the heart of each person who sees it? What’s next?
We tend to ask that question a lot. What’s next? It can be a passing thought in our mind, or something that lingers for a while – maybe a long while – as we wait for what seems like an eternity on what God has next for us.
But one thing that I shared on the very first published version of my website was how I didn’t know what was next. I didn’t have all the answers, a complete map out of the next ten steps or years. I only had step one. Step one was to share. I knew God was sharing His heart with me and asking me to share it with others. I didn’t know any of the steps I would take past step one. I just knew God was asking me to share what He shared with me. My website was the way I took that first step of obedience.
Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” NIV
As we learn more from God’s Word, His very words, we discover His heart. He speaks to us when we ask to hear his heart. He opens doors when we are willing to walk through them. Notice, I didn’t say ready. Just willing. When we have an obedience in our heart and mind to simply follow Christ. It’s amazing how it feels like the floodgates of heaven open when we posture ourselves to receive what the Spirit of God has to give us. Sometimes I have to pause to truly absorb what I sense God speaking to me. But it is the best motivation to continue chasing him: pursuing him with all we are so we understand his heart.
Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” NIV
Today, this verse came to my mind. I was driving out of my neighborhood. When I approached the second-to-last speed bump before the intersection to turn out of the neighborhood onto the main road, I could see the light at the intersection was green. Here’s the thing: I know exactly how long that light stays green. Every day when I approach this speed bump, I can tell if I will make it through the light, or if I will be stuck sitting there at the intersection for at least two minutes. If I’m past the second-to-last speed bump: I will make that green light! If I’m not: it always turns from green to yellow to red right as I’m approaching the intersection without enough time to cross the road.
But today was not an always kind of day. Today, I saw the green light from the other side of the second-to-last speed bump, and I near-jokingly asked God to keep the light green. Well folks, the light in fact stayed green and I was able to make it through the intersection without even throwing the pedal to the metal! As I passed through the intersection I laughed and said to myself, wow, that has never happened before! That’s crazy!
Immediately, I sense God say, is it though? You asked. I answered.
Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” NIV
Now I already know what some of you – if not all of you – are thinking. Does God actually care about me making a green light when I don’t want to sit at a fresh red light to wait 2+ minutes? I’m not sure that He does. What he does care about is my faith. He cares about me and wants me to have faith even as small as a mustard seed. He wants me to know that He can and will move mountains. What is a little green light to His incredible power?
AND, as soon as I recognized his voice, do you want to know what he said? Share it. Share this story.
Honestly, it seemed a little trivial to share something seemingly so insignificant. I laughed a bit, No, you don’t actually want me to share how I caught a green light to save two minutes waiting at an intersection. Really?
But I realized the need to surrender to what I heard him say and simply obey his voice was what I actually was being called to do. Just obey. It’s so simple, yet we can brush it off as though it has no value or purpose. If we would only listen and obey, how much more would we hear? How much more could we do in His power? What would we hear next if we would only follow what we hear first? If we would simply take step one.
Sometimes step one doesn’t even seem like a step at all. Believe me, sharing this story didn’t seem like a step to me at all! But I believe it is. I believe it is being continually obedient to God’s voice – no matter how big or small his command is – in order to follow him closely and with confidence in knowing his voice.
What is it you’ve sensed him say to you that you’ve brushed off? Maybe it was saying hello to someone. Giving someone a dollar. Speaking a word of encouragement to a stranger – or to a friend. Spending time with him. Sharing his love with someone. Saying no. Saying yes. Giving generously. The list could go on and on.
What I realized is that on the same day I started my website – a step I was taking to be obedient to God’s voice – he was asking me to take a very small step to do exactly what my website was made for: to share. To share when God speaks. Just like he said, This isn’t just for you– it’s for you to share with others.
What step of obedience has God asked you to take?
Think about what it is that is really holding you or keeping you from simply following what he has asked?
Ask him to reveal any sin in your life that could be keeping you from hearing his voice or following him.
