This week our reading explores how to discern God’s leading. The ability to recognize His voice is uniquely important. We want to know what He’s saying to us, all of what He’s saying. We don’t want to be forced to guess, or be stuck weeding out bad options in hopes of coming up with one that He surely could bless. Making choices or following a certain path using methods like that don't end well. It may sound strange but this reminds me of strawberry shortcake. I know, right? The strawberry season is on us. My husband and I have visited a local field two days in a row. It seems there’s never enough strawberries in the freezer. When I think about going through the winter without my strawberry smoothie I get queasy. And although I try to stay away from desserts, you can’t miss strawberry shortcake! Especially when it’s stacked high with sweet, picked-fresh-today strawberries and whipped cream. But each year when strawberry season rolls around, I realize I don’t have a good recipe for shortcake. So, on the hunt I go pulling a recipe off the internet in hopes it will create that buttery shortcake delight. Wouldn’t you think I’d save the good recipe once I find it? I still have images of my grandmother in her kitchen making shortcake, biscuits, and pie crusts. She was at home with flour and a rolling pin and showed extra flare with edging and flaky-ness! She used to tell me there’s nothing easier than working with dough. In fact, she couldn’t imagine how anyone couldn’t make such delights. When I read Lysa’s devotion I thought of how often I hear women talk about hearing God in their life. Some are sure of his words. Some are evaluating his words within the context of their life. Others use a specific scripture as the reason why God would say what they think they heard when often that scripture is far from supporting such a word. Where we fall on this spectrum of 'hearing' is not hard to define and definitely easy to improve. See the difference between my grandmother’s ability with dough and mine is that she made it day-in and day-out. She was always baking. I bake only when I’m inspired to do so, like when strawberry season starts. What if I only read the Bible, connecting with God and allowing Him to pour into my life only occasionally? Discerning God’s voice is just like working with dough. When you are used to handling the Word, you are familiar with diving into His book with both hands and a heart that has abandoned it's own interpretations - waiting for His word to touch your life, how awesome is that delight? The more we connect with God the more He can speak to us. It becomes second nature ~ like my grandmother working with dough, turning out to be pure delicious. ~ Andi
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