A Nudge From God
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. – John 10:27
One of my favorite things we did at our wedding was that we asked a few people to give speeches during the reception. My Matron of Honor and best friend of 17 years, Melanie, was up first. Then Kevin’s Best Man Jason spoke. And then rounding out the line-up, my dad gave a speech.
I loved all three speeches so much. They all made me laugh, and of course, they all made me cry…a lot. Granted, the only time I cried during the best man’s speech was when I almost cried from laughing so hard when he confessed that he and my brand-new husband had nearly flooded my car in a carwash the day before, but that’s another story for another day.
One of the coolest moments regarding the speeches, though, actually came about 15 minutes before they started.
We had finished eating dinner and were mingling with our guests until it was time to cut the cake when my dad pulled me aside. He started to tell me that as he was thinking about getting up to give his speech, he felt like the Lord was telling him he needed to pray before he started his speech.
“Kristen, I just feel a nudge,” my dad said. “I think the Lord is telling me that I need to pray before I give my speech. Is that okay with you?”
I smiled at my dad’s question and responded, “Well dad, you’re the one who’s always told me that if the Lord is leading you to do something, you need to do it, right?”
My dad chuckled a little and said, “Yeah I guess you’re right. I’ll make sure I pray then.”
I told him that sounded like a great idea to me and that I couldn’t wait to hear his speech.
A few minutes later, my dad prayed the most beautiful prayer, thanking God for all that we were celebrating at the wedding that day, thanking Him for bringing so many wonderful people into the same place, and thanking Him for how much He loved weddings.
As he continued to pray, my dad talked about how God orchestrated the first wedding, and how Jesus’ first miracle that kicked off His earthly ministry was at a wedding. And then he talked about how one day there will be an incredible wedding feast, one billion times better than any wedding we’ve experienced on earth, and how it’s the Lord’s desire that all of us have a personal relationship with Him so that we can all be at that feast.
We’ll never know the exact impact my dad’s prayer had on the people in that room. We won’t know on this side of heaven what seeds were planted when he prayed about heaven and how God wants us to spend eternity with Him there. But what I do know for a fact is that my dad was obedient. He paid attention to the nudge of the Holy Spirit. He did exactly what the Lord was leading Him to do. And he followed the same advice he’s given me for so many years.
I truly believe something special happens when you pay attention to God’s little nudges and walk in obedience when He’s leading you to do something. You might not always get to know why He tells you to do something, and you may not always get to see the fruit of your faithfulness. But even then, we get to trust and believe that God is going to do great things through the obedience of His children, and what a blessing that we get to play a small part in His work and His plan.
Do you feel like God is nudging you to do something in your life right now? Do you feel like He’s leading you to take a certain course of action, make a certain decision, or walk down a certain path? If so, maybe this devotion is the little extra nudge you need to take that leap of faith and walk in obedience.
I’ve never regretted paying attention to those nudges when they’ve come in my own life. So I hope that you’ll have the courage, the boldness, and the trust in your Heavenly Father to pay attention to Him and follow whatever path He’s nudging you towards.