Unemployment, part 4

This post could also be titled "On the shelf."

This is a picture of the lunch I ate today. Can you guess what it is? Nope, it's not Frito pie. That isn't chili underneath that beautiful mound of corn chips. That's lentil soup. I discovered the Frito + lentils combination about 3 years ago. It definitely isn't the same as eating Frito pie, but it's relatively OK. Sometimes a chick just wants some crunch with her bowl of mush. Heck yes, I'm a redneck.

Somewhat off the subject, I like lentil soup, but I'm not completely sure why Esau was so eager to trade his birthright to his brother Jacob for a crummy little bowl of lentil soup. I think Hebrews 12 says it's because Esau was profane, or I'm guessing maybe Jacob was a heck of a good cook. But seriously, lentil soup? Dude, keep your birthright and wait for your mama to cook you a venison casserole or something later. Not that I'm any better than Esau, but when I went shopping at Big Lots, the price tags on the cans of lentil soup said "$1.25," not "$birthright."

Anyway, I'm not going to just talk about unemployment today. I would like to touch on a subject that is controversial in some Christian circles: hearing God's voice. I would like to talk plainly about the type of stuff that God talks to me about sometimes. Yes, God talks to me, and not just when I read my Bible. He has a relationship with me. That's why He talks to me, and I talk to Him. Otherwise, our relationship would honestly stink. Have you ever had a relationship or friendship that felt very one-sided, or maybe you felt like you did all the giving and the other person did all the taking? Or maybe you did all the talking and the other person would just listen without offering feedback or would just completely ignore you? Yes, of course that would be a lousy relationship. So, why should my relationship with God not involve Him talking to me and me talking to Him, just like two friends would talk to each other? (Exodus 33:11) Yeah, that's what I thought.

Of course, I'm definitely NOT the only person that God talks to. He wants to talk to everybody. He aches for all of humanity to listen to Him.

"Today, if you will hear His voice: 'Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work.' " (Psalm 95:7b-9)

I remember when I was first learning how to hear God's voice (because I used to believe that He didn't talk to people like that anymore). People at the church I attended would say things like, "Someone gave me this prophetic word, and I put it on the shelf." They meant that God spoke something about the future to somebody else, about them, but they didn't know if it was really from God, so they put it "on the shelf" to see if it really was God. Of course, if it really was God, this "word from the Lord" would more than likely come true. If it wasn't really God talking, this "word" would more than likely not happen. In general, I think that's how that works.

I have lots of words "on the shelf." Some of them have been on the shelf for almost 2 decades, and others don't spend much time on the shelf at all because they come true rather quickly. For example, during a mission trip to Mexico in 1997, I got a prophetic word from a Mexican guy. As far as I can remember, he said (I will give you my English translation) that God impressed on him that I'm going to marry a very good-looking man who won't fall in love until he sees the good qualities that God put inside me. Of course, this word hasn't come true, so it's been on the shelf. I've honestly kinda flicked this particular word off the shelf and into an invisible trash can because of frustrations that I won't go into at the moment. For a while, I wondered if this prophetic Mexican guy was just totally full of it and/or if he just liked me and invented this "word" himself. Or maybe it really is God and I just need to keep it on the shelf until I need it. (If it's God, I think it grew legs, crawled out of the invisible trash can, and leapt back onto the shelf behind my back. Heh. Sneaky little word.)

I could probably talk forever about how difficult it can be to discern if a voice is God or not, especially since He speaks in such a variety of different ways. (Just reading through the Bible will give you an idea of how many different ways He speaks to all kinds of people.) I've also learned that familiar spirits (demonic spirits that are assigned to your family) sound a lot like God. A Jezebel spirit sounds a lot like God. Sometimes waiting is a crucial step in discerning whether or not God really spoke. (Demonic spirits aren't patient, they don't love you, and they aren't the least bit encouraging.)

But once you know that a "word" is from God, you just KNOW. And even then, it can seem a bit iffy. I wonder how the prophet Hosea in the Bible first reacted when God told him to marry a prostitute. "Um... Lord, You want me to WHAT?!" I wonder if he had some trusted friends to test this word with. "Hey, Hosea, um... I don't think God would ever tell you to marry a prostitute." I wonder if Hosea had to wrestle with this word. "OK, Lord, so I'm pretty sure this is something You want me to do. And... wow, she's hot. Can You please make sure I don't catch anything from her?" I mean, seriously, I love God, and I know He loved me first, and He's 100% good, pure, and holy. But, well... being His friend never has a dull moment, honestly.

At the beginning of this year, He told me, "This is going to be a tight year." I immediately suspected that I was going to get fired, even though my situation at work had cooled off a tiny bit. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened last month. I'm glad He told me ahead of time. He gave me plenty of time to dig through my things and prepare to sell some of my valuables for the occasion.

The last time I was unemployed, I was praying about something totally unrelated, and He led me to Psalm 5:12: "For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield." The next day, I got laid off unexpectedly. Then God told me, "You're going to be unemployed for a month." Approximately one month later, I got hired at my next job. Yep, that word didn't need to stay on the shelf for very long. That was definitely God, and He definitely shielded me and gave me tons of favor. In a sense, and mixing some metaphors, I guess you could say that He greased some wheels ahead of time, and my very brief season of unemployment was smooth sailing.

During that very brief time, I randomly ran into a guy from church at a restaurant one night. I told him that I had just gotten laid off, and he offered an exhortation. I don't remember his exact words, but he basically said that sometimes during seasons like unemployment, instead of rushing to find the next job, God just wants to take some time to refresh you. This word has been on the shelf, because I didn't need it back in 2011. (I found a new job rather quickly.) However, I think I've basically taken this word off the shelf, dusted it off, and have needed to use it now in 2014. This is definitely a season when God doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all, He doesn't seem worried at all, and He's taking care of me impeccably, just like He always does. He's been doing some major recalibration inside me, He and I have been organizing some things in my life, and I've been majorly refreshed.

So, during Unemployment 2014, I've felt like God has spoken to me again. If I heard Him correctly, I felt like He said, "You're going to be unemployed for 3 months." It's very possible that I completely missed God and/or that I'm quite full of it. Or it's very possible that I heard my Father speak to me like He always does. At any rate, this word is officially on the shelf. If I heard God accurately, I still have approximately a month and a half of unemployment to go.

I think the shelf is a very safe, handy place. If you take care of your shelf and the stuff you keep there, you could reap some very important things later. For example, I didn't realize in 1994 that that Yanni concert VHS that I acquired would be something I could enjoy today while I was eating lunch. But the VHS tape has been stored and preserved on the shelf, faithfully waiting for me to use it whenever I need it. And I didn't know when I visited Big Lots the other day that I was going to enjoy a $1.25 can of lentil soup with Fritos for my bachelorette Sunday lunch. My pantry shelf is a very nice place for my future meals to wait until I'm ready to eat them.

I like God. He's cool.