My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today I want to talk to you about something that I believe is particularly important: Failing to Respond to the Obvious.
It's easy to get caught up in our own lives and problems, and sometimes we forget to pay attention to what's happening around us. As a result, we fail to see the apparent signs God is trying to show us.
The Bible contains examples of people who failed to respond to the obvious. The Pharisees, for example, were so focused on their own rules and regulations that they completely missed that Jesus was the Son of God. In John 5:39-40, Jesus says to them, "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that you have eternal life in them. These Scriptures testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."
Likewise, in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37), the priest and the Levite walked by the wounded man without helping him, even though it was obvious that he was in need. It was only the Samaritan, who was considered an outcast by society, who stopped to help.
In our lives, we can also fail to respond to the apparent signs God is trying to show us. For example, maybe we're struggling with a particular sin and keep telling ourselves that we'll deal with it later. Perhaps we're ignoring the needs of others because we're too busy with our own lives. Whatever the case may be, we need to be careful not to let our concerns blind us to the obvious signs that God is trying to show us.
A famous quote by C.S. Lewis says, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
It can be easy to feel like God is distant or uncaring during challenging times. But the truth is that He is always there, trying to get our attention. The question is, will we listen?
I want to leave you with one final illustration. Imagine you're driving down the road, and you see a sign saying, "Bridge Out Ahead." But you ignore the warning and keep moving. You might be able to go a bit longer before you come to the bridge, but eventually, you'll reach a point where you can't go any further. The same is true in our Spiritual lives. If we ignore the obvious signs God is showing us, we might be able to keep going for a while, but eventually, we'll reach a point where we can't go any further.
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, we ask for your forgiveness for the times when we have failed to respond to the obvious signs you have shown us. Please help us be more aware of your presence in our lives and dare to act on what you call us to do.
Please give us the strength to overcome our selfishness and to be a light in the world. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior. Amen.
And now, I would like to invite anyone who feels like they have been ignoring the obvious signs that God is showing them to come forward for prayer. Let us pray together and ask for God's guidance and wisdom as we seek to follow Him more closely.
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