Week 10: Day 3

Intro: Hey guys, and welcome to Orbit, I hope you’re doing well, if I haven’t met you yet, well my name is Robin and it’s great to have you with us today. This is our third session together. We’ve currently looked at what it looks like to have a strong faith, and how we can have good expectations of what God can do in our lives today. And today we continue in the same book and but the next chapter.

Bible: Today's reading comes from Daniel 4, and we will read Verses 4,5 and 9:

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me.

I said, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Here is my dream; interpret it for me."

Thoughts: Now each day I start by asking you a question, and today I want to ask you: how is your hearing?

Here King Nebuchadnezzar expected Belteshazzar – who is also called Daniel, so I’ll be calling him Daniel from now on, much easier to say! – to be able to hear from God because the Holy Spirit was within him.

Now a quick story, I was once at a big conference and this guy who helps run a mega church over in America came up to me and asked what was it that I did before I worked for the church. So I said that I was a builder for 10 years. Then suddenly he just grabs my shoulder and goes, “NO YOU WEREN’T.” I was like, yeah, yeah I was.. and he goes, I have never heard of anyone with that background who now works for the church…that must have been some transition. So I say… yeah, there was some highs and lows, it’s been a journey for me… and we keep going for a bit longer and interrupts and says…wait here, I have some friends who also run massive churches in America, they have to meet you, they will love you...and so he gets them and says guys… this is the guy.. This is Robin, he’s now training to be a vicar in the Church of England, but before this… for 10 years… he was a Buddha….

And I’m standing there like… I have two choices right now… Either run with the cards I have been dealt.. or fess up. And so I told them the truth and they just broke down in laughter!

I share this because hearing God can feel a bit like that. It can be feel like ‘I think he’s saying this, but it’s hard to follow’… there might be some things missing in translation, or it can feel like something’s not quite adding up.

But the beautiful truth and comfort is that, although we may struggle to completely understand what God is saying, he never fails to hear us. It may not feel like it, but God hears and understands you perfectly, and so if you want to hear God more in our life, all we have to do is to ask him to speak, and he will hear our request. He is a good God who longs to speak with us.

But there are two catches, and these are today’s challenges…

Challenge: Each day on Orbit we give you a challenge to help put this passage into practice, and today, the challenge is this: once you’ve asked God to speak… the first thing you have to do, is to wait. As with anyone else, if you ask them a question or ask them to do something, you wait for them to reply. I often ask God something and then carry on with my day, but today let’s try waiting in silence for God to respond. For me, it’s never a clear voice, but more a niggling feeling about something.

And the second challenge is this, try telling someone what you think God is saying. Ask for God to say something for someone else, and then take the brave step and tell them what you think God might be saying, (and use the word “think” because we do get it wrong sometimes) and ask for something encouraging from God for someone else.

But take the step of telling them and asking them if it sounds about right. And if isn’t, then no worries, and if it then awesome!

Pray: So let’s pray together: Heavenly Father, you are good and in your goodness you meet with us, and I pray father that right now you would begin to speak to each of us, giving us words of hope for us and for those around us. I pray that you’ll help us to be bold in speaking these hopes to those around us. Amen

Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. Thanks so much for joining us - we'll be back with another reflection tomorrow.