Episode 38: The Power of Listening to the Holy Spirit

I listened to a nudge I felt from the Holy Spirit and it completely changed the outcome of my day. I had to get some bloodwork done and through listening to the Holy Spirit, I had an amazing encounter with a healthcare worker. When He nudges us to do something, it can be tempting to focus on fear or awkward social situations, but instead we can focus on Him and obedience. God always knows best!

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Transcript

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Hey friends, welcome to the Only God podcast, where we share stories only God can write. I'm your host, Stephanie L. Jones, and each episode we'll dive into powerful testimonies, have great conversations, and encouragement that remind us when the impossible happens, it's only God. Let's get started. Hey friends, it's Stephanie here again with the Only God Podcast, sharing stories only God could write. And I want to thank you for being here today with me. Um, I have a cool story that just happened uh maybe like a week and a half ago. So I had to go get some blood test, and honestly, it's something that I hate to do. I had been putting it off for months. I think it was like two months. I've been putting it off. And finally, one Saturday morning, I thought, I'm doing it. I'm getting up. You know how it is, you have to fast. And I was like, I'm getting up and I'm just gonna go give my blood. And um, so as I was getting ready, I was in the bathroom and I felt like the Holy Spirit whispered, take your book, Uncommon Prayers. Um, and that just hit me different because that book, um, I gotta admit, it's not my most popular book. It's not a book I think about a lot. Um, so I paid attention to that just because it was it kind of came out of the blue. I was like, that's interesting. And so then I got ready, and as I was in my closet, I felt like I heard that whisper again of take uncommon prayers. And I don't know about you, but sometimes when I feel like God is speaking to me, it's like multiple times to get your attention or just to remind you like, don't forget about this. This is important. Um, so as I was leaving, I actually keep a lot of my books back there on the bookshelf. And uh, so it's like that third time of like, oh yeah, don't forget that book. So came upstairs, grabbed a copy of my book, Uncommon Prayers, that I wrote with Mike Bellini, which, if you haven't listened to his episode, go back and listen to it. Um, we actually talk about uh how uncommon prayers came to be, which is I feel like important to this story. I'll share a little bit after I get done telling this story. So, anyways, um I grab the book and put it in my purse. And on the way there, I feel like this is where the devil gets into our head, gets into our mind, is I start like questioning what I really felt like was the Holy Spirit calling me to do something. And it was like, Well, how am I gonna know who to give it to? Like, is it gonna be awkward to just be like, here's my book? The Holy Spirit told me to give it to you. So, anyways, I get to the doctor's office, yeah, like the hospital, and um, when they call me back, sweetest lady calls me back, and we just kind of hit it off right from the beginning. And again, I'm thinking, like, is this who I'm supposed to give my book to? Because honestly, there was a lot of people in the waiting room, and I never felt like I was supposed to give it to the person in the waiting room. I will admit, the lady that checked me in, she was very kind. And I did have a thought, like, um, should I just give her this book? But I didn't, I didn't feel that. It was just like I was trying to get ahead of God and what God had for me. And I think a lot of times we do that. We are not patient in waiting for where God is calling us to go or who God's calling us to interact, or the opportunity. It's like we're not patient and we just jump. And so I was patient and um got back with this lady. And over the years, I've just had so many issues with giving blood. And so it's just something that I hate. And so I always like stick out my arm and just turn my head. So I'm not even like watching. And the sweet lady that was taking my blood just started asking me questions. And she asked me if I had any plans for the weekend. Oh, it was Memorial Day weekend. And I was like, no, I'm like, I'm gonna be working. And it was kind of like, oh, sorry, you gotta work. And I was like, no, it's like I love what I do, it's my passion. I'm gonna be writing, I'm gonna be working on book projects. And I like when I said that, I felt like, oh, this might be my opening. And she asked, like, what kind of books I wrote. And so I told her I wrote on giving and gratitude, on prayer, um, that I have a children's book series on giving and gratitude. And she shared with me what church she goes to. And she even commented, like, I normally wouldn't share that with my patient. And I was like, that's okay. Um, and I shared or she might have asked me like what church I went to. I shared that with her, and she just started sharing some personal things with me. I invited her to my church. I let her know that I was gonna be serving coffee, second service, and we just started having this beautiful conversation. And after, like, she did an amazing job, like one of the best people to ever take my blood. Like, I didn't even, it just was over so quick. And after that got done, I pulled my book from my purse and I just said, I am supposed to give this to you. Like this morning, I really felt like the Holy Spirit called me to bring this book, and I know you are the one that should have it. And she's like, I'm gonna start crying. God is just so good, but only God could have orchestrated this. She said, We have been like teaching our family how to pray. And I just like right there, it was like, Can I give you a hug? And we hugged, and it was just this beautiful moment that would have never happened, would have never happened if I had not listened to the Holy Spirit telling me to take this book, even though it made zero sense. Um, and so I just really encourage you in a couple of ways of one, be obedient. And even if you're wrong, like in this situation, like I think sometimes, or I just know the devil gets in our head. And so it would have been very easy for me to be like, this is not the Holy Spirit, this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing. Like, I could have made a whole bunch of excuses, I could have just ignored it, and it's like, okay, one, what if that wasn't the Holy Spirit? And I still got to have this beautiful opportunity. Now, I don't believe that after everything that happened, it was just so clear. But it's just like the majority of the things that I've been called to do and where I felt like it was the Holy Spirit, they have been beautiful moments, but they've all been moments of obedience, doing something that makes me uncomfortable, doing something that I have to trust a hundred percent on God and what He is calling me to do, and also knowing to be patient, to not rush what God is calling me to do and be trusting that God has like gone before me in that moment. So that's my like only God story. But I want to back up and I really encourage you to go listen to the full episode of Mike Bellini. But what we have found is this book, I mean, I really felt like Mike was posting prayers on Instagram, and I like reached out to him and was like, I think you need to write a book. Like I really felt like the Holy Spirit was calling me to nudge him to write that book. And there's a whole longer story to that. But what I think both Mike and I have found is if I am at a live event, let's say like a Christmas holiday vendor event, I have had so many moments where I have 10 books now that people will be drawn to this one book. It's a very simple cover. I have had people who are not Christian say, I don't go to church, like I don't practice the faith, but I'm drawn to this book and I've just given it to them. It's given me opportunities to stand up and hug people. Um, it just I have had that happen repeatedly. And so if you are a creator and you sell things, whether it's books or art or anything else, this is why I do not get focused on the number of books that I sell. I focus on the Lord, I really believe, called Mike and I to write this book. And if it makes an impact to one person, then we have been obedient to you know, sow that seed and make that impact to that one person. And God is going to use our obedience in this book to do whatever he's gonna do in that person's life. And if I got caught up in numbers, all I'd be focusing is on the numbers and not just like the opportunity that this book has given us to preach the gospel and to share about how a relationship with God in prayer helps you fight your battles. It helps you to seek wisdom, which we should be doing each and every day. It helps us to uh just be in God's presence, to be still, to thank, to glorify Him. And it's just a beautiful opportunity to grow our relationship and let God be the guider of our life on the path that He has for us. And so today I just really encourage you to listen to that still voice, to take those steps, even because you're not gonna know where you're gonna go, and trust that God is gonna lead you down a beautiful path to it will impact your life, but it's not about you, it's about what how God is using you to impact the lives of the people that you are going to encounter. So I thank you so much for your time today. And I am Stephanie Jones sharing another Only God story. Hey friends, thank you for joining me today on the Only God podcast. I hope today's story encouraged your faith and reminded you that God is still writing our stories each and every day. If you were inspired by this episode, please share, subscribe, and tell a friend. And to stay connected with me and find out about all my books and resources and events, go to shineforwardcreative.com. Have a fabulous day.