GOD: In Surround Sound

This morning I was in my regular spot doing my prayer journaling and Bible reading.  Almost everything was the same this morning except that last night I installed a new rack and raised the our television up about 18 inches on the wall.  So as I sat down to journal I looked up and noticed the TV and couldn't help but consider where I was going to mount the surround sound speakers.  Since we moved several months ago I have yet to put up the little speakers that give me that "movie theater" feel.  Instead, four of the six are just sitting on a stand under the TV.  Not the same effect.

As I thought for a moment about where the best placement for the best sound might be my mind jumped to something I had read in Henry Blackaby's book, Experiencing God (have you noticed yet the rapid attention shifts that I constantly struggle with?).  Blackaby said that we hear from God in the following ways, or that He speaks to us in the following forms,

God speaks through the Bible - as we read or listen in an attempt to know Him more.
God speaks through prayer - as we talk to Him He aligns our wills with His.
God speaks through circumstances - as doors shut and open He guides the steps of our lives.
God speaks through the Church - or others that we have contact with who are also led by and listening to Him.

I have been wrestling with several decisions where our church is concerned and how to best proceed and accomplish His will and as always I have been praying that God would confirm His will in these specific areas in a way that I am able to understand.  He is doing just that through other believers I talk to, through the circumstances He leads us to and in my prayer time.

So as I was sitting there thinking about my surround sound speakers and placement and then switching to hearing God through the various forms He uses to communicate to us it struck me that my desire is the same for hearing God as it is for hearing the "real life" movie sounds that surround sound speakers provide.

I want to be in the sweet spot.

With my surround sound I want to position the speakers in such a way that where I sit provides the greatest effect of the system.  All the speakers working together to so that they hit my ear and make me feel like I am right in the middle of the action.  With God I also want to find that sweet spot where all of the ways He communicates with me are working together to confirm His will in my life and the life of His Church.  I want to in tune and be in the right spot spiritually so that His Word, my prayer time, our circumstances and what I'm getting from others all hit me together.  I want to be right in the middle of the spiritual action.

How has your communication with God been?  Are you hearing from Him through only one speaker?  Then you may be getting an incomplete picture of His will for you on a specific subject.  If you are praying but not reading His Word you've got a speaker out.  If you praying and reading but not connected with other believers on a regular basis who are helping to keep you accountable and plugged-in then it's a lop-sided message you're getting.  If all you listen for is what is happening to you (circumstances) then your missing out on the full-message from God on the subject.

Work to find the sweet spot where everything points to the same conclusion and gives you the feeling that you are right in the center of what God is doing in your life and listen to ALL the speakers not just some.

Think I'll put the rest of my surround speakers up this weekend and find that sweet spot in my living room and in my life.