How does God get our Attention?

Intro: every Saturday at noon we hear the tornado sirens. Depending on the season, we may think it’s for real, but for the most part, we hear the siren and even have occasional remembrance of incidents that have plagued this state for many years. Similarly, when God speaks to us, we must recognize that His message is of the utmost importance, deserving our full and complete concentration.

· Have you ever wondered when things happen if we are being punished for something? Have you wondered if God has heard your prayer or petition? What about watching or experiencing tragedy and thinking would God really allow that to happen? What if it’s a way of God trying to get our attention?

· God has His ways of gaining our undivided attention. When we walk in the Spirit, our spiritual antennas are alert to God, and we can hear what He saying. This is the normal Christian life, living keenly responsive to the voice of God in whatever fashion He may choose to speak to us.

· The problem is that we don’t always walk in the spirit. There are times when we choose to do things our own way. We are headed so fast in a given direction that if God spoke, we couldn’t hear Him because we simply have tuned Him out and diverted back to our old ways. God is aware of this problem and has the plan to rectify it, He uses many ways of getting our total, absolute attention to what He wants to communicate. More than likely, you will discover that God has already used one or more of these principles in your life to get your attention. Perhaps you will discover the solution to a problem that has been hampering your spiritual effectiveness over a period of time. It may be a longing illness that has plagued you or even the simple struggle of facing sudden death. Whatever it may be, you may find that the problem you thought you had was simply God’s way of trying to get your attention.

1. Restless Spirit-Esther 6:1, Genesis 32:22-26

a. The sixth chapter of Esther is a beautiful example of God’s working through a restless spirit. In this case, it involves King Ahasuerus who had been unwittingly duped by his prime minister, Haman. Because Haman hated all Jews, especially

Esther’s relative, Mordecai, had tricked the king into signing an edict for the destruction of the Jew's men, women, and children all in one day.

b. After he had signed the proclamation, the King could not sleep because his Spirit was restless Spirit. I believe one of the simplest ways God can get our attention is to make us restless. Have you had some of those nights? Getting up before the alarm clock goes off. When restlessness begins to stir within our spirit and we can’t put a finger on it, we don’t know why it is there, we can’t identify it, we don’t even know exactly what is happening, but we have an uneasiness in our hearts. When such a time comes, the wise thing to do is stop and ask the Lord what He is trying to say. ( Don’t get comfortable)

2. A Word from Others-2 Samuel 12:1-7, Job 2:9-13

a. Second way to get our attention is by speaking to us through others. The best-known example is Nathan’s confrontation with David in 2 Samuel 12. Having sinned against God in the incident with Bathsheba and Uriah, David apparently continued his reign without any visible evidence of a guilty conscience. 2 Samuel 12:1, the stage is set, Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said

b. That is why we must learn to listen with an open heart to the voice of God as He speaks through others. If we are proud or egotistical and can’t take direction from anyone, we need to read the book of proverbs in which God repeatedly says that a man who cannot take criticism or reproof is destined for failure. Proverbs commend the man who learns to receive godly rebuke and thus succeeds in life.

c. However, we must be extremely careful in this regard for sometimes others no matter how well-intentioned, can lead us astray. If you don’t believe Solomon’s son Rehoboam sought the counsel of his father. But did not head that and went seeking advice that was more pleasing to the ears. There be sure that we examine both the message and the messenger.

3. Blessings-Romans 2:4,Gen. 22:15-18

a. Third God speaks through blessing us in the most unusual ways. This is an attention-getting method. Paul enjoys this is Romans 2:4 when he wrote “Or do you despise the riches if His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not

knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. The attention-getting blessings may be financial, or spiritual, or they may have something to do with the home or vocation. Whatever they are, God just seems to pile them upon us. Now God can’t use that method on everyone, because selfish people would get more independent, more self-centered, and more self-seeking and would totally ignore God. But He does get our attention by blessing us because the motive behind each of His methods is to help us grow our confidence to do more for His Kingdom expansion.

b. He sees our futures, He sees our present, He sees His plan for us and He sees our plan. He sees them on a collision course, and when that happens, out of an expression of His love, He will get our attention so that we might listen to Him and be saved from ultimate ruin. Isn’t that exactly what we do with our children? If we saw our children headed for trouble, wouldn’t we out of love do something to stop them? Wouldn’t we give them a word of wisdom to protect them from wrecking their lives? run-ins with the law, wouldn't you sit down with him and warn him of the dangers involved? Wouldn't you urge him to make sure his friends had a positive influence in his life, and wouldn't you convey the fact that "bad company corrupts good morals"? Of course, you would. You would go to great lengths to establish proper bearings for your child to steer their life by, and God does no less for us.

4. Unanswered Prayers- II Cor. 12:7-10

a. Another method God uses to get our attention is through unanswered prayer. Satan will be more than happy to help us get an answer to everything we want outside the will of God because he knows pleasure today may mean trouble tomorrow. Closed doors to prayer may sometimes be a sign of God's hand working to redirect our focus to another needful area of our lives.

b. The Lord used Paul's thorn as a teaching tool that has ministered to countless millions of believers (see 2 Cor. 12:7). His prayer went unanswered, but at the same time, his focus shifted from considering the severity of his problem to a new understanding of God's grace. When Paul opened his letters with his familiar "grace and peace" salutation, he well knew the meaning of the phrase. Unanswered prayer brought Paul into a new dimension of dependence on God.

5. Unusual Circumstances-Exodus 3:1-2 (Burning Bush)

a. Unusual circumstances, the fifth method to get our attention, often cause us to turn our eyes and hearts to God. The story of Moses is a vivid example. Moses had grown up in Pharaoh's household. No doubt he was a tremendous warrior and a competent military strategist. One day, however, he decided to take things into his own hands-he killed an Egyptian sol­dier. He fled for his life, and the next forty years he spent on the backside of the desert in Midian, wearing the same old odorous clothes and tending a small bunch of sheep.

b. We cannot dismiss certain things. In a show that my wife watches called “underground,” there is a scene in which rose comes back to get her mother and brother James. James yells for help and says he does not want to go. He is happy and believes that his life will be rough if he goes with his sister.

6. Disappointment-Number 14

a. Numbers 14 depicts how God uses disappointment to cause us to heed His voice. In the preceding chapter, the nation of Israel, fresh out of Egyptian bondage, was headed to the Promised Land. Twelve spies were sent to the Promised Land, but they came back and gave a negative report. The committee voted ten to two against possessing what God had already promised to provide for them in battle.

b. Talk about getting their attention! The Israelites had just come out of Egyptian bondage. They had on their backs the stripes of the taskmasters of Egypt. They could still smell the same old food they had been eating for hundreds of years. Now, they stood on the threshold of a land flowing with milk and honey, which God had promised them, but unbelief blinded them. There was a tremendous sense of letdown, followed by mourning and weeping. It was too late but God got their attention. He showed them that their unbelief would cause every single adult to die wandering in the wilderness like that of Egypt.

c. Sometimes the greatest disappointments in life are God's attention-getters. You may be planning to marry; everything is all set. You've talked to the florist and the preacher, and then the other party calls it all off. Your world collapses, and you think, God, what in the world are YOU doing? Why have you allowed this to happen in my life? What are you doing to me, God? It may well be that God in His loving plan reached down and stopped the wrong marriage and the disappointment got your attention. Otherwise, you might have continued doing what you thought was right, rather than doing the will of God.

d. We frequently have the tendency to blame God for our dis­appointments, making Him the object of our wrath. When Job was engulfed with disaster, his wife mocked him, saying, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" (Job 2:9). Satan obviously was at work trying to distort Job's view of God.

e. Thus, the way we respond to disappointment is extremely important. We allow Satan to point his ugly finger at us and tell us that we are not worth anything and that God doesn't really owe us anymore. I have heard people say this for years. When great disappointment comes, they wring their hands and become angry and bitter toward God. They fail to realize that God saved them from ruining their lives. The wise response when disappointment comes is always to ask God what He is trying to teach us and then respond to our disappointment with new insight into God's plans and purposes.