Day 5 - Clear The Logjam

Clear the logjam? What logjam? The logjam of things we have heard from God that we haven't acted on yet.

Years ago when I was a young pastor, I heard a wonderful testimony of a man who saw a vision of a baby that needed a miracle. He booked a flight to Florida - he had sensed the baby was there - and after about a week's adventure of looking for the baby, he found her. A miracle of healing followed.

The story was far more wonderful than I can convey in a short paragraph, but I was so moved as I heard it that I prayed: "Lord, I wish You would lead me like that!"

His answer was not at all flattering. "Ha!" He said. "If I told you to go around the block to speak to someone, you wouldn't do it. Or if I told you to pick up the phone and call someone, it would take you weeks to get around to it."

So I got out a piece of paper and wrote a title in large capital letters:

"THINGS GOD HAS TOLD ME TO DO"

Then I made my list, and there were maybe six items on it. I can't remember any of them now, but I remember that they were all small things. Things like this:

Call M. and see how she's getting along.
Call A.B., and thank him for helping you repair your car.
Meet P.B. for lunch.

I've listed just three examples, but you get the picture. I decided to see how many of the items on my list I could act on before I went to bed that night. Obviously I couldn't finish a lunch between suppertime and bedtime, but I could at least call P.B. and make the appointment.
I finished a few items on my list that night, and made appointments for several more. Then something unexpected happened: God added new things to the list.

At first I thought I was doing something wrong. Why couldn't I finish my list? I asked God what the problem was. It isn't that He answered with words, because He didn't. Instead, I suddenly understood: now that I was acting on what He had already told me to do, He was giving me more. As I continued to scratch items off my growing list, I found the Holy Spirit was leading me.

In the years since then, I've learned that many people who don't hear from God need to clear the logjam, just as I needed to. God is more than willing to speak if we will respond to His word. But we need to walk in the light we have before we can expect Him to give more.

Make your own list. Most of the items will be small things. See how many you can at least begin before you go to bed tonight.