If you're not hearing God, you're not listening

Do you hear God?  When you pray to Him, do you get an answer, whether or not it's the one you're expecting?

Keep in mind, the answer may come in a variety of forms.  Many times, I've asked God for guidance and wisdom, and as soon as the question forms in my mind the answer appears.  God answered it.  It may not be a booming voice from the Heaven for all to hear, but then again in my mind it is.

Answers may also be delayed and come in the form of lessons I've lived through.  In January 2011, my wife and I were in a dire financial situation.  Within a day of each other, we had a van towed away by a repo man and our home foreclosed upon.  By the next month, we worked through both by getting the van back and our home back.  We prayed.  Oh, God, did we pray!

And he answered . . . by not only taking those possessions away from us for a brief time, it strengthened our relationship (both with each other and to God) and gave awareness to our plight to both her parents and mine.  They helped to get us back on track.  And it was a good thing too, because in April, my wife was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.  She spent most of 2011 in Rochester, MN, at the Mayo Clinic.  She received a stem cell transplant on September 1, 2011.  Although she regained her health by remaining cancer free, she experienced other complications.  Money was raised through a benefit.  The money lasted until December of that year, right at the time she was allowed to go back home.

God answered our prayers.

On January 16, 2020, she passed away and went to the Lord.  He welcomed her into His glorious arms as she was embraced by the Love of Jesus and the Lord.  For months prior to her passing, we prayed.  I prayed.

He answered, "Not yet."

When she did pass, it was the perfect time.  It was after the holidays, it was before many school events that would've torn people away from town, and it was far before the COVID-19 pandemic that the world is experiencing right now.

Remember, God answers your prayers.  Are you listening?