RSVP

The rain sneaked under my hood as I ran my son up the walkway for a birthday party. I felt for the mother, who would soon have a houseful of sugar-addled, rainy-day-crazed kids.

“How many are you expecting?” I asked the hostess.

Her forehead puckered. “I have no idea. No one RSVP’d.”

A twinge of discomfort. No one? I knew I’d left my RSVP. “Didn’t you get my message?”

She flipped her hand. “Oh, we never check our machine.”

Huh???

On the invitation she asked for a response, she had an answering machine hooked up, but she never bothered to check her messages?

As I drove home, the windshield wipers protested, and I wondered if I’d ever been guilty of the same lapse of logic. Do I shoot God a list of requests, bustle through the day, and grumble about how God never answers my prayers?

I need to check my messages.

The Lord speaks to us in several ways—through His written Word, prayer, circumstances, and the voices of His people. Has a pastor’s sermon ever spoken directly to you? Has a Christian friend ever asked a question that cut to the core of your issue? Have you ever been barraged by verses and conversations on the same theme? That’s God speaking, and it’s exciting.

To experience this, we need to structure our lives so we have plenty of time in the Bible, in prayer, in church, and with God’s people. But we also need to live our lives expecting God to speak to us, tuning our hearts to listen to Him, and waiting in eager anticipation.

Excuse me, but I think I hear my Bible beeping at me.