Thailand?!

THAILAND?!

That was my first thought when I first realized that God might be calling me to go to Thailand.  The second thought that followed shortly after, I’m embarrassed to say, was that I would not be able to pick Thailand off a map.  But I know where Thailand is now, which is good, because I am headed there with my Senior Pastor for two weeks in September.  But I should back up and explain how this all happened.

On a Saturday morning in June, I was sitting at the kitchen table with my wife discussing some frustrations that were going on in several areas of my life (to be perfectly clear, none of them related to her!)  Near the end of our talk, she said something like this: “Brian, what you need to do is find something to do in an area that you know nothing about so that you don’t analyze it to death and see a million ways to improve it or fix it.  You need to do something completely unfamiliar to you.”  I thought that might be good advice, so we prayed that God would reveal something new that he wanted me to do.

Less than 24 hours later on Sunday morning, Pastor Robert stopped me in the hallway at church and told me that he was wanting to go on a “vision trip” to Thailand in the fall to explore mission possibilities there.  He had planned to take one of the other pastors who had been to Southeast Asia on mission before but due to a scheduling conflict with a conference at church, the other pastor couldn’t go.  He asked me to pray for God to reveal the person that should go on the trip with him.  Although he wasn’t asking me to go, the timing of this opportunity caused me to ask myself whether this was an answer to my prayer the day before.  So I started to pray and ask God to confirm whether I was supposed to go on this trip.

After a longer conversation with Pastor Robert a couple of days later and several conversations with my wife along with a lot of prayer, I was pretty sure that God wanted me to go.  The kicker was that night as my wife opened up her daily devotional on her iPad.  She chuckled and showed me her screen featuring this picture of a man in Southeast Asia:

This was the last little bit of confirmation that I needed.  It also solidified the decision with my wife which was important – I had already decided I wouldn’t go unless she was completely in agreement.  I continued to pray for the next week to make sure that this was the right thing and then signed up and paid my deposit.  I can’t wait to see what God is going to do!

I will write more about the specific trip in a future post, but I’m sure some of you are wondering what I mean when I say that God “spoke to me.”  As strange as it might sound to non-believers and even to some followers of Christ, God speaks to us and moves in our lives to direct our paths. (See John 8:47 and Jeremiah 33:3) We are often too busy or distracted or indifferent to hear.  I have a long way to go in this area, but here’s three things I’ve learned about hearing God:

1. It starts with spending time with Him in the ways that He has given us – His Word and in prayer.  We will not hear God clearly if we don’t know who He is or spend time with him.  If we aren’t clear on who God is as revealed to us in the Bible, it is much easier for us to misunderstand what He is saying and that leads to big trouble. (Psalm 32:8-9, John 14:16-17)
   
2. It is hard to hear God if we aren’t listening and trusting that He will speak.  As much as I might like Him to sometimes, God does not generally talk to us with a booming voice from heaven or in a burning bush.  He won’t speak if we aren’t paying attention or if we do not believe that He will.  We must deliberately and regularly put ourselves in a position to listen. (John 10:27; Jeremiah 29:11-13)
   
3. The more we listen and respond, the easier it gets to hear Him.  If you constantly tried to talk to someone and they didn’t listen, would you keep trying to talk to them?  If I don’t do what God tells me when He speaks, it becomes harder to hear His voice the next time.  On the other hand, as I learn to listen and respond, I become more familiar with His voice and how he communicates. (John 10:3, 14-16)

Finally, I have learned that it is much easier to hear God and see Him move when you are in a position where you desperately need Him and your only option is to ask Him for help and direction.  One of the reasons I am excited about Thailand is because I will be in a place where that will be the case.  I would appreciate your prayers as we get ready for this trip.

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