Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it. (Isaiah 30:21, NIV)
It is becoming more commonplace at televised golf tournaments for fans attempting to gain attention to shout out inane phrases like “Youdaman” or “Gedinthahole” (even when the player is 285 yards from the green) whenever they sense a TV camera is nearby.
The most famous “attention-getter” in the sports world was Rollen Stewart, the “Rainbow Man,” who wore a rainbow-colored wig. After Stewart became a born-again Christian, he added a “John 3:16 sign” to his repertoire. He could be seen at the most prominent sporting events, including the Olympics and the Masters.
All these antics were designed to get other people’s attention.
To get His people’s attention, God instructed several of his prophets to do strange things. God told Isaiah to “[t]ake off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet” (Isaiah 20:2). What a sight it must have been to see a man professing to be God’s prophet walking around town barefoot and naked for three years looking like a prisoner of war.
Jeremiah obeyed God’s command to make a yoke and wear it on his neck for several months. (Jeremiah 27:2). God commanded the prophet Ezekiel to shave his head and beard using a sword. Then, using a set of scales, he divided the hair into three equal portions and scattered it throughout the city. (Ezekiel 5:1-4).
How does God get our attention? I doubt that God has instructed any of us to do the types of strange things that He asked His prophets to undertake. Yet, God does reach out to us constantly.
It can be a whisper in our ears, a particular scripture passage that we focus on during the day, or something as dramatic as a 2×4 “upside the head.”
For me, God’s whispers do not always get my attention. Even with my hearing aids firmly positioned in my ears, I struggle to hear Him when He tries to speak to me.
The most jarring and effective ways God has gotten my attention in the past is with a solid 2×4. Whether it was a divorce in my late 20s, the loss of a major client in my mid-40s, or a cancer diagnosis in my family, these types of events certainly got my attention and caused me to examine more closely what I was doing with my life. That 2×4 certainly had its intended effect.
To avoid these painful encounters with a 2×4, I have developed a new skill set that permits me to recognize when God is trying to get my attention. I must learn to slow down my life, be patient, and wait for Him. I try to remove all kinds of distractions that constantly surround me so that I can be still and quiet.
I need to spend more quiet time in His Word—reading it, meditating on it, and praying about it. I must continually remember that I may not want to hear what He has to say to me. Yet, I need to be open to hearing Him and accepting with an open heart and mind what He says to me.
Does God have your attention? Can you hear Him? My prayer for each of you is that God has your attention and that you can hear His voice behind you saying: “This is the way; walk in it.”
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help us to be more attuned to your voice when you try to get our attention—whether with a whisper or with a 2×4—so that we might listen and act on what you are calling us to do.