What are some of the ways God uses to get our attention?

Matthew 7:24“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.”

John 8:47“Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”

God uses his Word to get our attention. If we are open and listening, a gentle whisper from God can get our attention more clearly than a shout from someone else.

Psalm 104:24-25O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.

Romans 1:20Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

God uses the amazing world of nature to get our attention. Seeing evidence of the works of the Creator himself should get anyone’s attention.

Exodus 3:4When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied.

Mark 9:7Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.”

Acts 2:22“God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.”

Acts 8:6Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did.

Acts 9:3-5As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!”

God sometimes chooses miraculous events to get our attention. Miracles can be small, such as our next breath, or great, such as the parting of the Red Sea. They might be quiet, such as a sunrise, or shattering, such as a volcano erupting. We can experience take-for-granted miracles like a friend’s smile or once-in-a-lifetime miracles like an angel’s appearance. But if we are listening and open, any of these can catch and hold our attention, and then turn our focus back to God himself, who gives all good things.

Job 36:15“But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer. For he gets their attention through adversity.”

Isaiah 28:11So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!

God can use difficult times in our lives to get our attention. Then we need to figure out what he wants us to do.

1 Samuel 3:9-10So he [Eli] said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

Jeremiah 29:19“For they refuse to listen to me, though I have spoken to them repeatedly through the prophets I sent. And you who are in exile have not listened either,” says the Lord.

God can use other people to get our attention and direct us to him. When a person truly is speaking for God, we must listen.