Black Women Have It Going On

Good morning from Colorado! As I sit and think about this week’s 15 Minutes with God, I can’t help but smile. Who would have thought we would spend a week talking about a jawbone, a movie, a toy train, and the art of listening? Yet somehow, all of those things brought me to one simple realization: God can use anything to get our attention and change the direction of a life.

But there’s something else I’ve come to understand. Anything can change a life—but it has to be a life that’s ready to change. We can hear a message and ignore it. We can receive good advice and reject it. We can encounter something that causes us to stop and think, yet decide to keep doing things the same way. Change requires something from us. It requires a willingness to look at ourselves honestly and ask, “God, is there something You are trying to show me?”

I’ve learned that changing direction doesn’t always mean God changes everything around us. Sometimes He changes something within us. We may pray for God to change our circumstances when He is trying to change our perspective. We may ask Him to remove an obstacle when He is using that obstacle to teach us patience. We may ask Him for an answer when He’s trying to teach us how to listen. And sometimes we’re looking for some grand spiritual sign when God is quietly using an ordinary moment to get our attention.

Think about that little toy train from Holiday Affair. It was just a toy. Yet that little train became part of a series of events that caused a woman to look at her life differently. The train itself didn’t change her life. It was what that little train set in motion. And isn’t that sometimes how God works with us? A conversation can set something in motion. A Scripture can set something in motion. A person can set something in motion. A movie can set something in motion. Even a difficult season can set something in motion. We may not understand the significance of the moment while we’re standing in it. Sometimes we recognize it only after we’ve had time to look back.

I’ve also learned that changing direction requires humility. We have to be willing to admit that the direction we’ve been going isn’t the direction we need to continue. That’s not always easy. We can become comfortable with our plans, our opinions, and even our struggles simply because they’re familiar. But familiar doesn’t always mean healthy, and comfortable doesn’t always mean where God wants us to remain.

Maybe God has been trying to get your attention.

Maybe He’s been using something ordinary.

Maybe He’s been using someone you didn’t expect.

Maybe He’s been repeating a lesson you’ve been avoiding.

Or maybe He’s simply asking you to slow down long enough to listen.

The question isn’t whether God can use something to change our direction. We’ve already established that He can.

The question is:

Are you willing to follow when He does?

The Takeaway for Us

1. God doesn’t always use extraordinary things to do extraordinary work. Sometimes the smallest moments can become turning points.

2. A change in direction may begin with a change in perspective. Before God changes our circumstances, He may be changing the way we see them.

3. Following God requires more than hearing Him. We have to be willing to listen, discern, and then take the next step.

The Call to Action

As we close this week’s 15 Minutes with God, take a few quiet moments and think about the things that have gotten your attention lately.

What conversation has stayed with you?

What Scripture keeps coming back to your mind?

What situation keeps making you stop and think?

What have you been asking God to change?

And perhaps most importantly:

What if God is trying to change your direction instead?

Don’t rush past the question.

Sit with it.

Take it to God.

You don’t have to know the entire road ahead. Sometimes you only need enough faith to take the next step.

Scripture

Proverbs 3:5–6 (KJV)

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

I love that last part: He shall direct thy paths.

Not we shall figure out every step.

Not we shall understand everything first.

He shall direct our paths.

Sometimes direction comes through something unexpected.

Sometimes it comes through something ordinary.

And sometimes it comes when we’re finally quiet enough to listen.

A Weekend Prayer

Father, thank You for the lessons You place in our lives, even when we don’t recognize them at first.

Help us slow down and pay attention. Give us ears to hear, hearts willing to receive, and minds willing to discern what You are showing us.

When You use an unexpected person, circumstance, conversation, or moment to get our attention, help us not dismiss it simply because it didn’t arrive the way we expected.

Give us the courage to change direction when You make it clear that we need to move.

And when we don’t understand the road ahead, help us trust You enough to take the next step.

Lord, remind us that You don’t need perfect circumstances to accomplish Your purpose. You can use ordinary things, unexpected things, and even things we never would have chosen ourselves.

Keep us listening.

Keep us teachable.

Keep us willing.

And when You say, “Go this way,” give us the faith to follow.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

Until Monday

This week began with a jawbone and ended with a question:

What is God trying to show me?

Maybe the answer won’t come wrapped in something that looks spiritual.

Maybe it will come through an ordinary moment.

Maybe it will come through a person.

Maybe it will come through a movie.

Maybe it will come through a lesson you’ve heard before but weren’t ready to receive until now.

Whatever God chooses to use, I pray we’re willing to pay attention.

Because God can use anything to change the direction of a life—and sometimes the life He wants to change is ours.

I’ll see you Monday for another 15 Minutes with God.