Why is God trying to get your attention?

As Moses was tending to his father-in-law’s flock on the backside of the desert (Exodus 3:1), God revealed something to Moses that he had never seen before, a bush burning with fire, but it was not consumed (Exodus 3:2). Moses asked, why is this happening (Exodus 3:3)? The moment God saw Moses turn from what he was doing and turn toward the burning bush, God spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:4). The burning bush was God’s way of getting Moses’ attention. What did God want from Moses? When facing an unpleasant situation or circumstance, you might ask yourself (or God), why am I going through this? What does God want from me? Today, God may not use something as dramatic as a burning bush, but God may be trying to get your attention – (See sermon: Why is God trying to get your attention).  Below are three reasons why God is trying to get your attention:

1. You’re not in the place where God wants you to be. Our plans will take us to a place where we want to be, but obedience to the Word gets us to the place where God wants us to be. This place is not a physical place but a spiritual place; because God is more concerned about your spiritual health than anything else. Upon reception of the Holy Ghost, we establish a spiritual union with God that must be maintained by communion and fellowship with God in prayer and an obedient lifestyle of holiness. When our oneness with God is broken through disobedience or neglect, we fall out of the place of God’s favor and fellowship. Just like a person sitting close to a campfire to feel the heat from the fire, God wants you in a place close to him so that you can feel the presence of his love and the fervent fire of the Holy Ghost burn in your soul.
2. You’re not going in the direction toward God. The direction that you go in is based upon the decisions and choices that you make. As children of God, our decisions must always please God and bring him glory. However, when your decisions do not agree with God’s Word or are not aligned with God’s will for your life, you will head in a direction without God’s approval, protection, and favor. In addition, God sees what you don’t see; He tries to warn you, by His Word, to turn from your ways and turn back toward God to avoid the danger that lies ahead.
3. God wants to reveal something to you. Through Moses’ interaction with God, he saw God’s greatness, and he also saw his weaknesses (Exodus 3:11; Exodus 4:10). The Word of God is a window that shows us something new about God, and a mirror that shows us something old about ourselves. The more time we make to examine our lives by God’s Word, we cleanse our hearts and mind from spiritual defilement (1 John 1:9). In contrast, the less time we spend in the mirror of God’s Word, the heart will become cluttered with junk, and become unclean, and this uncleanness will result in spiritual lethargy and broken fellowship with God. God is more concerned about the time you spend with him as opposed to what you do for him (Matthew 7:22-23).

This leads us to how God gets our attention. The primary way God gets our attention is through his divine Word. As Saints of God, we must make time to assemble ourselves together to hear the inspired Word of God (Hebrews 10:25), which is his ordained method of speaking to his children. However, when we fail to take heed to God’s warning by his spoken Word, he will speak to us through “unpleasant” situations or circumstances called “storms of correction.” These storms are chastening from God (Hebrews 12:6). Jonah, a prophet of God, refused to follow God’s instructions and went in a direction away from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:3). The Lord sent a storm of “correction” to get Jonah’s attention and turn him from his rebellious way. As a loving parent, God sees potential danger in the path that we are going in, and he warns us so that we avoid anything that may hurt us; but he doesn’t force us to do anything we don’t want to do. Correction from God is never pleasant, but it will be profitable when you surrender to God by turning from your ways and submitting to his Word (Hebrews 12:11).