When God Shouts…I Listen

Sometimes God shouts and sometimes He whispers. Last night He shouted. I was making tea for my friend Laura. We were exhausted and had worked hard all day. We got back to my house late, and I asked Laura if she would put the water on while I went in to kiss my hubby, and then I would make tea. She did. She used an old, chipped, glass quart measuring cup to put the water in the microwave to heat. (Just like I’ve done many times before.) I came out of the bedroom, took the water out of the microwave, added the teabags, and plopped  a saucer on top to steep the tea. (I admit, I have done that before too, just usually not when my friends are watching.)

You see, I am ‘the tea lady’. I know the right way to make tea, and what’s more, I own way over 100 teapots! Literally, from where I was standing making tea in a glass measuring cup, I could have taken two steps and had my hands on seven of them!

That’s when God shouted. Shouted silently to me. Laura was beside me, but she did not hear him. I broke out in a chuckle that said “Yes, Lord, you are right!” That’s when Laura knew there was something else going on. I explained to her the message I was getting, and of course she immediately wanted to take a picture, but I did not let her.

I often tell people that God talks to me through teapots. This time He used a ‘teapot wannabe’ to silently shout these questions into my spirit:

• Do you find it easy to do things your way, skirting the very gifts that I have given you to use to bless others?
• Do you forget to show value and respect, or take for granted the closest friends that I have given you?
• Are you willing to put forth a little extra effort to do it my way?

You get it now, don’t you? Sometimes God shouts. Are we listening?

This morning the wannabe still sat on the stove to remind me: The tea was good. The fellowship was sweet. The lesson was learned!