Before I get into whether you’re missing God’s message, let me share with you how I totally missed it numerous times…

Missing God’s Message on Love

I remember sitting in my living room with my boyfriend.  We haven’t talked in days.  Things were not where they should’ve been.

It was a recession.  Jobs were dwindling everywhere.  No one was hiring and we were weeks away from graduating college.  No opportunities to move forward.  Our only option was to move back in with our parents.
But at least we had each other… right?

I did everything I could to look for jobs in his hometown city so that we could stay together.  So that we could get through this together.

I remember staring at the TV that was not on.  As he walked into our apartment, I began to voice my frustrations.  How I had been searching day and night for job opportunities so that we could be together… and he was not.
As he stood behind me facing the dark TV, he finally shouted out of his own frustration,

You are not my first priority!

Ouch.  I should’ve taken that red flag as a major message from God that this relationship was destined to tank.  But I didn’t.  It went past me.

And while God told me to end things right there, I ignored the message.  I wanted to make things work.  I couldn’t accept that things were ending after all we had been through.

We broke up four months later.  It was the worst breakup I had ever experienced.
 

Missing God’s Message with My Business

Let’s flash forward to a place where I was happily married and now focusing on my business.

I cannot tell you how many times I had fasted, prayed, and waited on the Lord to give me some direction on where to take my business so that I could reach the masses with my message of finding love.
If only I had tuned in each and every time someone complimented my writing… which happened oh, about every time I published a new article (like this one from Imperishable Beauty: “How to Love & Embrace Your Singleness Today“).

If only I had been less in tune with my own desires, I would’ve been missing God’s message.

You know how you step into a season where all you wanna do is receive direction from God on what to do, where to go, etc. and months go by without hearing so much as a whisper?
Or did you?

Ever wonder if you may be totally missing God’s message altogether?

It’s possible.  But I believe that God sends us multiple messages for this very reason… wait, are you missing those too.

I’ll give you a clear example of how this could be happening to you without even realizing it.

Say you go to church one Sunday morning.  You worship your heart out, and you are a cheerful giver once the tithes and offering plates are passed around.  Then comes the sermon.  And it was good.  Like, really good!  And you automatically begin to think of someone else who could really use that message.

Stop right there.  If God wanted that person to hear that message, He would’ve delivered that message to that person!
But He didn’t.  He gave it to you.

Were you listening?  Did you receive it as your own?

Here’s another example.

You hear a song, a sermon, watch a YouTube video, etc. (because someone told you to check it out, of course) and because you may have already heard a teaching on the Scripture they’re talking about, or you already heard some other message similar to what you’re hearing, you automatically dismiss it.

It’s not for you because you already heard it before.

Missing God’s message is partially due to pride and/or lack of faith.

Here’s why…

It’s prideful to think that you have already heard everything that God can share in His message for you, yet “it still wasn’t enough” for you to receive it.

It’s also prideful to dismiss a Word from God because it didn’t come from the “right” source.

His ways are so far beyond our ways.  Why would you not take every clue, hint, vision, and message you can get?  Remember, He once used a donkey to get His message across.  #Perspective.

It’s also a faith thing because if you are totally getting an answer from a prayer that you’ve been seeking for some time, and do not wish to receive the message that you got, then it’s partly because you’re lacking some faith in that message.  You may not want to hear that particular outcome.

You may not want to hear that particular outcome so you dismiss the message altogether.

Are you truly seeking God’s direction in your life, or simply want permission to do things your way?

Or, it could be that the message was just so deep and intense that you don’t feel equipped to fulfill that message.  You lack faith in yourself to make it possible.

Perhaps you REALLY wanted to start dating again, but you’re getting the vibe that God is telling you to wait.  But… that’s not what your gut (and hormones) are telling you.  So we play dumb and while God’s message falls on deaf ears.

Whether it’s a job, relocating to a new city (or country), starting (or ending) a particular relationship, or making a HUGE investment on something that you know will be life-changing, God will always lead you and guide you every step of the way.

So how do we go from missing God’s message to hearing His direction each and every time?

Stay connected.

Oh, if only we can turn on God’s notifications on our phone then we would be reminded daily to seek Him.  But He doesn’t quite work like that.

God is always in our presence.  We just need to sit long enough to allow the dust to settle.

So stay connected to Him.  Think of Him consistently.  Listen to Him as often as you can– through songs, sermons, devotionals, books, and whatever else personally draws you to Him.

The more you develop a closeness to Him, the deeper you can trust Him.  The deeper you trust in Him, the greater your transformation will be!

Never take His words for granted.

God’s Word is living.  As in, there could be something you read a million times, and for whatever reason, out of nowhere, upon reading that same Word for the 1,000,001th time, something finally clicks for you!  It makes total sense and it’s the answer you’ve been waiting for!

Allow those words to breathe life into you.  Don’t pass that to someone else simply because you think that it won’t do you any good.

Be open to receiving God’s message from anywhere, anytime, and from anyone.

I remember I received a very powerful word from someone.  She was afraid to share it with me because she knew her track record was far from perfect.  Yet she was faithful and knew that this message came from God.  After sharing this news with several close people in my life, they began to question the source.

Could I really take these words seriously coming from this person?

Um, yes.  Because God can use anyone.  At any time.  They don’t need to be saints to make it possible.  If you trust in God, you’ll trust in His message.  Period.

I know these steps will require some practice and faith.  And believe me, I’m not perfect at it either.  But do not lose hope!  Your faith will grow as you stay committed to drawing near to Him.

And when you’re ready to throw your own motives and sense of control over a particular situation out the window, then you will surely hear Him, loud and clear.

Once you hear that message, pray about it.  Allow yourself to process it.  Seek confirmation.  Trust.  Trust. Trust.

What causes you to wind up missing God’s message?  How did you overcome it?  Share with us in the comments below!