Listen

This is not our house, but our neighbour’s. It is the aftermath of what could have been a complete disaster for the family living there.

I woke up at 3:30 this morning to the sound of crackling, which seemed odd, given the usual silence of our area at that hour. I got out of bed and looked out the window to see flames leaping from the deck of our neighbour’s house, and I had to keep the panic at bay in order to call 911. Everything is so dry around here right now and the forest fire situation is dire. We live on the side of a mountain in the midst of a forest and, well, my imagination kind of flew out of control.

My superhero husband jumped up, got dressed, and ran over to the burning house to make sure the occupants were safely out. They were asleep and hadn’t yet noticed the fire. My superhero then grabbed a garden hose and proceeded to douse the flames, most of which were under control by the time the fire trucks arrived. A firefighter told my husband that had another five minutes passed before the dealing with those flames, the entire house would have been engulfed.

While this post is bragging on my quick-thinking/acting husband, I also want to brag on God.

He’s the one who woke me up.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been meditating on how to better hear God’s voice – to listen and know that I am hearing the voice of His Spirit. There is no doubt in my mind that He spoke in the early hours of this morning, and He was counting on me to listen.

Our Father is the real hero in this story. He saw what was happening and because He has a plan for the family whose house was on fire, He needed His people to get out of bed and do what needed to be done.

What does He need you to do?

Listen. He’ll tell you.