I am in a very unique and special place in my life right now. A place of being rather free, halfway across the world with no commitments, be it of the relationship, work, or any other kind.
I am not grounded in any particular place. In fact, I am so uprooted that I have literally no idea where I am going next.
Naturally, this can sometimes make me feel a bit stressed and bring moments of anxiousness. Constantly living with a sense of uncertainty can certainly get tiring. However, it's in this place that I am the closest to God.
Intentional time with God
I wake up physically alone, but spiritually with Him each and every day.
As the sun rises, He greets me in my apartment within a city of which I can't read or understand a single word around me.
I don't have my friends, family, security or comforts - but I have Him. I don't head to school or work, but rather I stride into endless opportunities to intentionally walk with Him.
Each day is unplanned, yet He leads. Each day is quiet, and He speaks. I have an abundance of time and a lack of disractions to intercept it.
It's in this blessed season where He's made so clear to me the importance of how we position ourselves to hear Him.
Positioning ourselves to hear
I have previously written about truly believing that God is always speaking to us. And while this may render to you as an obvious statement, for many Christians it doesn't.
Yet He truly does, in so many different ways from which He chooses with perfect purpose. Sometimes He is so bold we can't block it, and other times He speaks so intricately we must block out to hear it.
From the roars to the whispers, He can and will speak to us however He intends - it's how we are positioned to hear Him that's the critical variable.
What's your position?
If we are navigating a rushed life chasing a packed schedule in a noisy world, then we are positioned in such a way that the intricate whispers of God become extremely difficult to hear.
Our position shouldn't have to make God louder than the noise, nor should our position condition us to only hear His boom.
Rather, we should seek to reposition ourselves nearer to God so that we can hear what He is saying in each area of our lives.
Repositioning ourselves
Perhaps, the first step is simply reflecting on our current position.
Next can be listing our priorities and then ordering them in a way that re-focuses on God and re-centres our lives around our relationship with Him.
Third can be identifying parts of our schedules that can be replaced with intentional time with Him - then intentionally surrendering the remaining parts of our schedule over to Him.
And throughout this process we can sprinkle in moments of pausing, breathing and inviting Him into our hearts and minds.
God will be heard
However you go about repositioning yourself, know that if God wants you to hear something, He will have you hear it.
It's repositioning ourselves that enables us to hear more of what He has to tell us in the quiet moments.
If we are positioned in a way where those are few and far between, then think about just how much we are missing.
His voice, guidance and discernment are pieces to what is quite a wonderful puzzle of navigating life in relationship with Him - position yourself to receive and use them.
Final encouragement
Of course, I am blessed to be in a season of abundant and undistracted time to walk so intentionally and intimately with God. I know many aren't in this way, while others are blessed to be living in other ways.
But this season, for me, has and continues to emphasise the importance of our position for hearing God - however that looks for you.
You might not have boundless time, and you certainly will have commitments, challenges and responsibilities. It's how you're positioned for God that determines how you see and hear Him work in all of it.
