3 Signs God is Trying to Get Your Attention

A word from God can change your life forever, so we certainly want to be able to recognize when He’s speaking to us. So let me ask you: if God were trying to get your attention, would you know what signs to look for in such a distracted world? In today’s video, I’m sharing three signs God is trying to get your attention. Enjoy!

Like many of you, my family and I enjoyed the Super Bowl to watch the game and the commercials. While the Super Bowl is the peak of American sports, it’s also top in advertising spending. This year, a 30 second commercial cost around $7 million dollars. Now, why would companies spend so much money on a Super Bowl commercial? It’s because with over 120 million people tuning in, they understand the value of your attention so much that companies spend billions (with a “b”) each year to get your eyes, ears, and desires on their products. With smartphones, social media, and more, we give our valuable attention away for free while companies literally profit from it. 

While companies compete for our attention, we need to understand that God wants our attention too, and if we’re unaware of that or we’re too distracted, we may miss Him. 

So, in this video, we’ll discuss

• 🛑 3 subtle ways God may be trying to get your attention.
• 👂 How to ensure you are positioned to hear from God clearly.
• 📞 What to do when God speaks to you.

But first, I need to address the concern that maybe God isn’t speaking to you because I know many people may feel this way. In any relationship, communication is key, and if God sent His Son Jesus Christ, to die and rise again just so He could be in relationship with you, He’s not just going to turn around and not speak to you. He’s speaking. We just need to ensure we’re positioned to hear God.

This means we need to be praying. If we’re not creating space and room to talk with God, we’ll most likely have a hard time hearing from Him. But don’t worry because God is not afraid to repeat Himself. 

Coincidence

This leads to the first sign God is trying to get your attention: coincidence. The Cambridge University definition defines coincidence as an occasion when two or more similar things happen at the same time, especially in a way that is unlikely and surprising to you. 

So, for example, let's say you and your friend both wear the exact same dress to a party. You might say that is a coincidence. Or you and your husband both bring the same type of dinner home that night because you both had a similar craving. That would be a coincidence. Now, we may see a coincidence as just happenstance, but because of God's sovereignty and supreme rule over everything, God has the ability to cause a coincidence to get our attention. 

One month, I was memorizing Philippians 4:6-7,  for the purpose to overcome anxiety in my life that had got particularly challenging. This verse really spoke to me about overcoming anxiety and choosing prayer and thanksgiving as opposed to worry, stress, or anxious thoughts. It was really helpful for me. At the same time, I decided to memorize that verse, I saw it in many other places. I'd open up a devotional and see the verse right there. One time I was looking up a past Bible study video that I created, and I stumbled across the verse again. 

So, while some people might view this as a coincidence, I see it as a sign that God is trying to get my attention. He is encouraging me to lean into this verse and see what it says. To take a second look. 

Even as a Bible teacher, we’re taught that if we’re studying a passage and God says something more than once in the same passage, we need to lean in because it’s almost like God is highlighting that point. It’s something He really wants us to get. 

So pay attention to your life because God is not afraid to repeat Himself until we get it. Repetition, or what we might call coincidence is a common way God will use to get our attention.

Still, if we are not aware in the conscious, God will speak to us in our subconscious through dreams. We see this throughout the Bible. Jacob, Joseph, and Solomon are just a few of the many people who had dreams from God in the Bible. 

Dreams

Even today, God will use dreams to get our attention. Not every dream we have is God speaking to us and needs interpretation. Sometimes, we just ate too many tacos the night before. But even if that's the case, oftentimes dreams, especially ones that we remember when we wake up, get our attention and get our mind wondering, why did I have that dream? The Bible tells us:

So God will allow us to experience things that we're not really sure what they mean so that we will then seek Him. The whole purpose is to get our attention so that we'll lean in, we'll listen a little bit more intently, and we'll pray a little bit harder to gain understanding from God. 

Whether your dream is a message from God or not, I can't tell you that, but oftentimes, God will use the mystery of a dream to turn our heart, mind and attention towards Him. The end goal is to hear from Him, and to lean in to say, God, what's going on in my life that would cause me to have this particular dream? God delights in revealing things to us when we sincerely seek Him.

Confirmation

Most recently, I’ve felt the Lord leading me to talk more about business, ministry and the behind the scenes of Beloved. Now I have a podcast about it called the Beloved Studio, (check it out) but before that I was unsure if I should do it and how I would do it. It was around that time that I shared a bit about my vision with a mastermind I was a part of and after one of our meetings, one of the leaders texted to ask if I could chat. I called her immediately and she spoke so much life and truth over me. She said she saw what I was doing and started to encourage and edify me in that direction. 

Then she said, as a matter of fact, God gave me a message in my morning devotion today, and it might be for you. And let me tell you, it was. Her words were so impactful and they really got my attention because they echoed what God had already been placing on my heart. And so now I'm sitting up more straight. My ears are perked up, and I'm like, okay, God, I see that you're trying to get my attention. You're making this clear. Let me listen, let me follow. Let me hear what you have to say because she was saying things to me that God had already placed on my heart without her knowing it. And that shows the final way God will get our attention which is confirmation.

This is when God gives you a message, or He shares something with you, but then you hear it from someone else, confirming what God has already said to you. When this happens, God is trying to get your attention so that you really take what He’s communicating to you seriously, so you don’t forget, and to hold you accountable. 

It's kind of like adding an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence or bolding a paragraph to highlight that this point right here is super important, and God is trying to get your attention about it. 

When the Angel told Mary that she would birth the Messiah, she was called blessed. Then, when she went to see her relative Elizabeth, Elizabeth said very similar words, calling Mary blessed. Elizabeth confirmed to Mary what God had already spoken.

When God told Joshua to be strong and courageous before leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, the people also said the same thing back to Jospeh. They told Him to be strong and courageous confirming what God already said.

There are many ways God will use to get your attention, but I hope these three; coincidence, dreams, and confirmation help you to see how God may be speaking to you. So when He speaks, listen and obey, but also expect oppostion. Expect the Word from God to be tested. You may have heard from God before, but now question if that was really Him or if it was true. But we know God’s Word will never fail, so we can always trust God’s Word no matter how things look.

But if you’re not sure how to respond when you hear from Him, check out this video where I share what to pray when you don’t know what to say.

For more encouragement, download my free Bible Study called “Worry-Free” to learn the 3 lies feeding your worry and the truth to set you free at belovedwomen.org. Thanks for watching and until next time, be beautiful, be blessed, and beloved.