Life is about position. Think about it. If you want to get wet while taking a shower, you must position yourself under the water. If you want to rebound the basketball, you must place yourself between the goal and your opponent. If you want to climb the career ladder, you must situate yourself in places to do so. Hearing God comes when we position ourselves is such a way to hear from Him.

There’s a famous story in the Bible of God speaking to the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:9-18). Elijah is waiting to hear from God and a strong wind blasts the mountain where he was standing but God didn’t speak through the wind. Then there was an earthquake that juddered the mountain, but God didn’t speak in the earthquake. Then came fire, but God didn’t speak in the fire. Then came a still whisper and God spoke to Elijah.

In this story, we often focus on God speaking in a small, still voice. His words don’t necessarily have to come to us in dramatic revelations and manifestations but can come to us in the most tranquil moments. But think about this: Why was Elijah standing on the mountain in the first place?  Because he was told to do so in order that he might hear from God. “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord” (1 Kings 19:11). Elijah positioned himself to hear from God.

If we want to hear from God, we must position ourselves to hear from Him. There are lots of different ways we can do that:

• Read the Bible

Scripture is always the voice of God in the sense that God inspired the words of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). And God can also speak specifically to us through the Bible by drawing a particular segment to our attention because the Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12). But we must open the Bible for God to speak to us.

• Worship

God often speaks the loudest and clearest through worship – when our hearts and minds are focused on Him. Coming together with others on a regular basis to worship is a must (Hebrews 10:25). But worship is not reserved for Sunday mornings. There are countless ways we can worship Him. But we must seize the opportunities when they are presented to us.

• Wise Counsel

When we seek Godly counsel, we can hear the voice of God. But these relationships don’t just necessarily waltz into our lives. We must seek out those who can be a sounding board of Godly counsel (Proverbs 11:14).

What are you doing to position yourself to hear from God?

It’s a question I get asked a lot. “I’m just not sure what I should do?” “Should I go to this school or that one?” “Should I take this new job?” “Is he the one that’s right for me?” “Which direction do I turn?” “What decision do I make?” “If only I could hear God’s voice!” “The lady in my life group is always telling us what God said to her.” “How can I hear God?”

We all long to hear God’s voice. The good news is that God is speaking. God has always been a speaking God:

• God spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-4)
• Balaam heard through the mouth of a donkey (Numbers 22:1-35)
• God spoke to Gideon through a fleece (Judges 6:37-40)
• It was in a still, small whisper that Elijah heard God’s voice (1 Kings 9:12)
• Paul was blinded by a light while walking down a road (Acts 9:1-5)
• God showed up to Peter in a dream (Acts 10:9-16)

Some insist that God has stopped speaking like He did in these instances in the Bible. That God does not communicate in the same way as when He spoke creation into existence or when He instructed his disciples on the hillside. Maybe you agree because you have never had the experience of a loud booming voice, blinding lights or shrubberies bursting into flame yet not burning up. Or then again, maybe you have?

The truth is, God is speaking. And He wants to talk to you! In Matthew 4:4, Jesus, when being tempted by the devil, quotes Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Did you catch that? We are to live on the words that come out of God’s mouth. That means He must be speaking! This may come as a surprise to you, but God is more than likely speaking to you right now.

God is speaking. Are you listening?

Join us at Aldersgate (aldersgatelive.org) this Sunday as we begin a new sermon series, “How Can I Hear God?”

Here I am yet again. Tilted back in the formal supine posture. The concentrated light from above blinding my eyes. Thinking to myself there are oodles of places I would rather be first thing on this Monday morning. Instead, I find myself trying to engage in small talk while my tongue is simultaneously being wrestled out of action allowing the metal scaler to debride away the caked-on gunk. You know, the incessant scraping that is accompanied with that eerie feeling like fingernails coursing down a chalkboard. And then the polishing – the incisors and molars and everything in between are buffed like a finishing phase of a drive through car wash.

If there’s a bright side to my semi-annual visit to the dentist’s office it’s that it allows ample time to think. It really is impossible to banter with the hygienist while my mouth is pried wide open. And so, it occurs to me while I’m lying there, churches around the world will be jam-packed this Sunday with scores of people who only frequent the doors once or twice a year. And I have witnessed first-hand that often our occasional guests are greeted with a good measure of scorn and contempt. But that’s never how my dentist greets me even though I only darken his doors once or twice a year.  His office is always thrilled to see me. Don’t get me wrong. My dentist would absolutely love to see me more than twice a year because that typically means some deeper work is occurring – action that involves shots, drills, and root canals. But even so, he’s delighted with the predictable semi-annual choppers cleaning.

What if the church conducted itself like the dentist’s office this Easter Sunday?

The word “church” is typed into search engines more this week than it is any other time of the year. Masses of people are looking for a place to land for their semi-annual visit to a place of worship. Instead of our typical judgment of their need for the deeper cleaning, can we just invite someone to come with us? It’s the easiest time of the year to ask! And instead of being put out that our precious parking spot isn’t available or that the seat we believe has our name written on it is occupied by someone else, can we be excited that our worship space is overflowing? Can we be like a dentist who relishes seeing her patrons once or twice a year?

How about it church? Can we be like the dentist’s office this week?

Finally. Opening Day. America’s pastime is officially back!

Whether you root for a team with big hopes for this season or one that is years away from contention or even if you have no interest in major league baseball, there’s just something about that first game of the new year. The pageantry. The fanfare. The newness. The chance to forget the past season. Rebirth. All 30 teams and millions of baseball fans start with a blank slate.

Opening Day is the first of 162 baseball games. The major-league baseball season is grueling. There are victories and there are defeats. Good days and bad days. The highest of highs and lowest of lows. And while only a few games hold the same ballyhoo Opening Day does there are certainly some that do. Undoubtedly, a challenge for Major League Baseball players is to keep the same anticipation, energy, and gusto for the other 161 games of the taxing season. And often they are criticized for that.

What about us? You know, those of us who have average, run-of-the-mill jobs that we go to 260 or so days a year. Those of us who root for our favorite team from our living rooms, the grill and bar, and occasionally a seat in the stadium? Do we approach our days as if every one of them were Opening Day? Should we be critiqued for that?

What if we woke up each morning ready to embrace the opportunities in front of us with the same expectancy, oomph and passion as Opening Day? What if we approached our normal, everyday duties at our workplaces with the same anticipation we had on our very first day of the job? What if we leaned into our everyday responsibilities with the same the zeal we had the first day we were presented with the obligations. Even on the dreaded days. The good and the bad days. Even in the worst of times and the most tragic of circumstances. What if?

What if we lived everyday as if it were Opening Day?