God is very good, and he shows us His love in many ways. Think about the times you have most felt loved by God. How many of those times in your life have been through the work of His obedient people? Though God does work independently of us, many of God’s good and miraculous signs in our lives happen when he gives one of his children a message, and they decide to follow his instruction. That is when the Kingdom of Heaven breaks through into the earth.

Jesus said the kingdom was inside of us (Luke 17:21 NKJV), and it is true! The Holy Spirit lives inside each believer to help guide us and help the kingdom of God spread like yeast through dough (Luke 13:21). But many of us as Christians, fail to listen and carry through with the whispers of direction God speaks to our spirit. Sometimes we listen just like my son listens when I tell him to clean his room. He hears me but he doesn’t do it. We may sense the Holy Spirit prompting us to do something, but we don’t follow through. But, then, what are we missing out on? Whose life might be changed if we had obeyed? And whose life might be touched if we do listen?

Remember Philip, who followed the Spirit of God to encounter an Ethiopian man who was reading a prophecy about Jesus from the book of Isaiah? Philip found him driving by at just that moment as the Ethiopian man needed to understand the scripture and caught up to his chariot on foot. The man listened to Philip, believed and was then baptized into faith in Christ (Acts 8:26-39). Or remember the time God showed Peter that he needed to go with the men who had been sent by Cornelius? Peter followed these men somewhat reluctantly, but ended up leading all of Cornelius’ household and friends to faith in the Lord (Acts 10). Their obedience impacted lives! The entire book of Acts is filled with stories of obedience to God resulting in the expanse of the Kingdom in the lives of people.

One time, while hanging out with my friend Ellie, I felt the quiet direction of the Holy Spirit. We had started on a walk and she asked which direction I wanted to go. I suggested heading toward the main Street, but she wanted to head the other direction away from town. Since I had sensed the Holy Spirit wanted us to go into town, specifically to a coffee shop there, I told her so. She still wanted to head out away from town. Since I wasn’t very used to hearing from the Holy Spirit, I didn’t persist–I didn’t want to leave her and I was questioning if that really was the Holy Spirit or just me.

As we walked away from downtown, I felt the pressure of the Holy Spirit keep drawing me to go the other direction. Thankfully God was gracious to help us get to the destination one way or another because we would have missed it if it had been up to my obedience. As we continued our walk, Ellie said, “Wow what is that amazing smell?” I let her know that it was the coffee shop roasting beans that evening. “Let’s go there!” she said, and I was more than ready because that is the exact place downtown I had felt we were supposed to go.

We walked into the coffee shop that night, and it was truly God’s appointment. A friend of ours who worked at the coffee shop was there alone, roasting beans. Somehow the opportunity to share the gospel opened up (probably because Ellie is an evangelist at heart), and John was willing to hear and had some questions about faith too. Another Christian man happened to wander in that evening and he joined us in this special conversation.

It wasn’t until quite a bit later that we found out that John had given his life to God that night after he went home from work. You may be further encouraged to hear, not only did John accept Christ, but he also chose to go into ministry as a pastor. Imagine the impact on all of those lives he now influences.  Few times does God give us the chance to see what we would have missed because of our choice not to listen, but I got a good insight that night. Obedience to God can make ripples throughout the world which spill into the following generations.

It makes me wonder just how many God appointments like this I have missed by not taking action. Let me tell you about someone who did do a good job of listening to what his Heavenly Father told him–in fact, he was known by his friends for his obedience to God. This was one of just a few times in my life where I have felt an overwhelming sense of how much God loves me. It happened because of one man’s obedience to listening to God over his circumstances. What I mean is, he left his friends stranded at a grocery store in a town he was visiting just to listen to God and be obedient to find me. They were not too surprised.

A long while ago, I was serving in missions in a ministry on a reservation, without close friends, and I was becoming physically, emotionally and spiritually tired. A friend from home called me that morning to share some resources with me he thought that might encourage me. I wrote them down on a little piece of paper before heading over to my job at the coffee house that was next door to the church.

As I stepped in to work at the coffee shop, I saw our pastor speaking with some visitors I had never seen before. I walked by them while delivering a cup of coffee to a customer and noticed that the leader of that small group had written down several things for our pastor on a small sheet of paper. Interestingly, they were almost identical to what I had just written down when my friend had called me. This got my attention. This group was intensely sharing about what God was doing and had done in ministry and missions. When you’re living in a spiritual desert, you get very thirsty. I was thirsty. I was so desperate to join in this conversation, but they eventually left our shop.

We closed the coffee shop not long after they left due to near-blizzard conditions in the middle of May that day. We had a lot of extra breakfast, so I thought I would walk in the snow to a town three miles away to hand out the breakfasts to the homeless who would sit on the streets there. When I was halfway through this walk toward the town, I realized I probably made a mistake by setting out. My jeans were now wet nearly up to my knees, I was cold, and there was still another half of the walk to go and then at the return trip as well. Should I turn back now? I asked God that question as I walked along. 

I heard a clear “I am sending someone to pick you up” in my spirit, which seemed to come out of nowhere. So, while God was answering, I asked Him if it could be those people from the coffee shop. He didn’t say anything more, so I just kept walking towards town trusting I had heard Him.

Only a minute or two after that, a driver of a passing car stopped and asked me if I needed a ride. The passengers seemed a little sketchy so I said “no thanks” and let them go on. I apologized to God if that was supposed to be the ride he sent me.

Moments later, a truck pulled over, and the driver asked if I needed a ride. This time it was two of the people from the group from the coffee shop!

“Yes!” I said happily and I hopped in to hear the story of how God had told the driver (another man named John) to find me and give me one of his books. The two had been waiting in the parking lot of a local grocery store, waiting for their friends to rejoin them when John felt God tell him to find the lady from the coffee shop (me). So he immediately left his other friends still shopping and drove to the coffee shop only to find it closed. “Where should I go to find her?” He ended up choosing to drive down the road I was walking on and found me there.

These two spent time sharing with me and encouraging me in faith which I so desperately needed just then.

 How did God show me his love for me that day? Through his people–through one friend who made an out-of-the-blue phone call to me from a different state, and then with this amazing setup of a man visiting the rez who knew God’s voice well enough to leave his friends to find me and bring me encouragement.

What if we listened like John who rescued me from the blizzard in May? Or a woman who brought me groceries once, not knowing that I lacked the money for food at that particular time? Or a friend who called just as I asked God to send someone to bring encouragement in a dark day of my life? Wouldn’t the kingdom of God truly be coming to earth? Imagine how many people would understand God’s love better. Wouldn’t it be amazing if it would be common to be touched by God through his people–not only one of a few times in your life when somebody actually was gutsy enough to listen to Him?  How many people just need to clearly hear the message that God loves them at just the right time?

How many people might be touched by Your brave obedience to his direction? How many people might come to faith because you listened to his direction to go somewhere just at the right time? He doesn’t always share his whole plan in advance, but it is so exciting to step out in faith and see the fruit–to join the adventure God invites us into.

What would it be like if we lived in a world where many believers were listening to God and were risk-taking for his kingdom’s sake? I believe we would be seeing much more of his kingdom coming, invading its goodness here on Earth. 

“Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

Matthew 6:10 (NIV)