How does God get your attention?
Have you ever been minding your own business and God sort of just swoops into your life and stops you from doing something, inspires you to something you weren’t going to or hadn’t even thought of doing, or protects you from danger you didn’t even know was there?
There have been so many times in my life when God has gotten my attention in these kinds of ways.
When God does something to get your attention, it can sometimes be very subtle, other times it can be surprising, and once in a while almost scary. God is constantly talking to us and when we’re paying attention, and sometimes even when we’re not, God orchestrates events to guide and protect us or empower us to bless others.
I’ve shared many of these kinds of experiences I’ve had over the years here on The Bible Speaks to You where God has done something to get my attention.
God got my attention
A couple stand out. Episode 82: Open Your Spiritual Eyes to See the Horses and Chariots of Fire. I share an experience I had in southern France coming down from Mt. Sainte Victoire when We were hiking down the mountain and got caught in an electrical storm. God protected our whole group in an amazing way.
Another time God got my attention was a lot less dramatic, and shows the gentle way God speaks to us at times. It’s Episode 39: Does God Still Talk to Us Today?
In this episode I share several ways God got not just my attention, but my grandmother’s as well. I hope you’ll to listen to these two episodes.
Take a minute to think of the ways God gets your attention. Sometimes it might be because you’re doing something you shouldn’t. Sometimes it’s because you’re not doing something you should. And sometimes it’s because you’re doing exactly what God wants you to do and He’s confirming that you’re right where you need to be.
Moses and the burning bush
The Bible is full of stories of how God, in many different ways, gets people’s attention. The first one I think of and one of the most obvious ones is when Moses saw the burning bush.
There the angel of the LORD appeared to him [Moss] in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” Exodus 3:2-4 NIV
Have you ever put yourself in Moses’s shoes, or sandals actually, and imagined how you would have responded to a burning bush out in the middle of the wilderness that didn’t burn up?
Moses was naturally curious and hopefully, you and I would be too if this happened to us.
Has God ever called you by name?
But what really got Moses’s attention was God calling him by name out of the fire.
Have you ever had God call your name? I have lots of times. The difference is, I was already aware of my relationship with God. This whole idea of a single and living God was a new, if not completely foreign, idea to Moses.
If you didn’t even know God existed and heard your name called out from a burning bush, or in any situation, that would, or at least should, get your attention.
It certainly worked for Moses. And once God had his attention, He could tell Moses about the role he would play to bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt.
And that’s what usually happens. When God gets your attention, He tells you what He really wants you to do.
God got Jonah’s attention in a big way
Another example of God getting someone’s attention is the story of Jonah. This was always one of my favorites as a kid. God gets Jonah’s attention in several ways.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Jonah? Right. The whale, or large fish. I know, I know, there are people who debate whether this actually happened or not, but Jesus refers to it and that’s good enough for me. Even if it’s just an allegory, the lessons it teaches are timeless, real, and life changing.
Have you ever been like Jonah and been in the process of running away from something God wants you to do? And then God gets your attention in a very dramatic way. Maybe you didn’t literally get swallowed by a giant fish, but metaphorically you did. God is trying to get your attention.
Once God had Jonah’s attention in the belly of the fish, what did that do to him? Did he continue to rebel against God? No, the whole experience actually got his attention in a way that Jonah recommitted himself to doing what God had commanded him to.
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’ ” Jonah 2:1, 2, 9 NIV
Jonah promises to keep his vows, to remain loyal and faithful to God, and to do what He’s told him to do. That’s exactly what God wanted.
God got Jonah’s attention with answered prayer
And then God gets his attention again, in a very powerful way.
And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 2:10 NIV
When God stops you in your tracks and you pray, then God answers your prayer and delivers you, that should definitely get your attention. It sure worked for Jonah. He went straight to Nineveh to call the people there to repent.
God got Jonah’s attention with something very small
But God isn’t done getting Jonah’s attention. Once the whole city has repented of their evil ways, Jonah is disappointed that God is so merciful. So God causes a lush plant to grow up next to Jonah and give him some shade in the heat of the day.
This made Jonah happy, but the next day God sent a mighty little worm to chew on the plant which caused it to wither. Jonah had no cover from the sun that day. Jonah was angry. But this was God’s way of getting his attention and teaching him an important lesson of mercy.
…the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” Jonah 4:10, 11 NIV
Even if you’re a prophet, even if you’re a church leader, no matter what God has called you to do, you always need to be alert to the ways God is trying to get your attention, in order to keep yourself in line with God’s will.
The prophets tried to get the people’s attention
Now, there are so many more times God sent various prophets to the Children of Israel to get their attention. But they usually didn’t pay attention to the prophets’ messages and warnings.
And eventually God got their attention, in a similar way he did with Jonah, except on a much larger scale. Jerusalem was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and the Israelites were taken captive into Babylon. You could say it was one giant whale of disobedience that swallowed them up. Instead of being in the fish for three days like Jonah, they were in Babylon for 70 years. Now there’s a whole lot more to that story, but you get the idea.
God was using His prophets, not just to get the attention of the Jewish people to live their lives in a more upright way and in obedience to God’s commandments, but to prepare them for the eventual coming of the Messiah.
God sent John the Baptist to get people’s attention
And when we get to the New Testament, talk about getting people’s attention. That was the whole mission of John the Baptist, to get the people ready for the Messiah to be among them on a daily basis.
And just as is always the case, some people paid attention to John and some did not.
Jesus got people’s attention big time
Then when Jesus burst upon the scene, what was there unusual about a carpenter from Nazareth? Why should anyone pay attention to him? He hadn’t come from a prestigious family. He had not made himself well known in the business world. He hadn’t gone to some elite rabbinical school. There was little if anything on the surface of Jesus’s life that would get anyone’s attention.
But God had other plans. When Jesus was baptized by John in the River Jordan, something really extraordinary happened. God got people’s attention by sending a visible presence of the Holy Spirit, which was not literally a dove, but all four gospels describe as like a dove.
But that’s not all.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16, 17 NIV
God got people’s attention with something they could see and hear. Did everyone instantly believe Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah? Obviously not. But some people noticed. John the Baptist certainly did. In fact, the Spirit of God descending on Jesus was the very sign God had told John to look for.
Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him [Jesus]. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ John 1:32, 33 NIV
This is a reference to the Messiah, or Christ.
So, these are just a few examples of God getting people’s attention in all sorts of ways, and as I mentioned, there’s no way to talk about them all, but the ultimate example of this is in the ministry of Jesus.
Jesus’s healings got people’s attention
Think of all the healings and marvels Jesus performed. Some people call them miracles. But they weren’t really miracles to Jesus. That was just his normal approach to the way he helped people.
God used everything Jesus said and did to get people’s attention, to show He loved them and that He was available to them as their God, their creator, their protector, their provider, their healer.
Now you might be thinking, “Hey James, wasn’t Jesus the one trying to get people’s attention with everything he did?”
Well, it sort of looks like that on the surface, but Jesus constantly reminded his disciples, and anyone who would listen, that he was here on earth to do God’s will, not his own, to say and do whatever God told him to, and to glorify God instead of himself.
In effect, God was telling Jesus what to say and do to get people’s attention. Jesus was like a giant billboard reminding and encouraging people to love, trust, and obey God.
Healing caused people to praise God
And that was often what happened. Remember when Jesus healed the paralyzed man,
He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” Mark 2:12 NIV
This is just one example of how God got people’s attention through the healings Jesus performed.
But even with all of Jesus’s healing work, God wasn’t done, and actually never will be, getting people’s attention through Jesus. At the end of his ministry, the crucifixion got a lot of attention in a very negative and traumatic way. But that of course wasn’t the end of the story either.
Jesus’s resurrection got people’s attention
Jesus’s resurrection, which is the most important event in all of human history, got people’s attention like nothing ever had before. Lots of people were crucified in those days, but none of them were ever resurrected, except Jesus.
It’s sometimes hard for you and me to even begin to imagine the impact the resurrection had on Jesus’s followers. They had seen him die on the cross, or if they weren’t there because they’d run away, they had heard about it. They were afraid. They were confused. They thought maybe the religious authorities would come after them next. And more than anything, they were totally devastated and disillusioned.
They had believed with all their hearts that Jesus was the Messiah. And now, everything was over. But they didn’t understand, even though Jesus had tried repeatedly to explain what was going to happen, that he would be crucified and then rise from the dead.
Through Jesus’s death and resurrection to life, God got the disciples’ attention. Seeing Jesus alive after seeing him dead on the cross, broke to some degree, the hold the material world had on them. Their fears and doubts were dissolved and they were closer to responding to the purpose Jesus had called them to, preaching the gospel to the world.
God is trying to get our attention today
Today, through Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection, God calls out to you and me, whether we already believe in Jesus or not, to get our attention, to hold our attention on His power and glory.
The resurrection is not just a one-time event. Each day God uses the power of the resurrection, the power of life over death, the power of truth over lies, the power of love over hate, to get our attention.
Are you paying attention? Do you see the Spirit descending on you like it did Jesus? Do you hear the voice of God saying, “This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”?
How does God get your attention?
Please take some time to look back on your life and ponder all the ways God has spoken to you, protected you, directed you, rebuked you, provided for you, healed you.
Every time these things happen, even if you don’t realize God is there doing it, God is calling out to you, saying, “I see you. Do you see Me? Look for Me everywhere in your life. Trust Me. Love Me. Lean on Me. Ask Me for what you need. I am here for you. Pay attention to Me and all the love I have for you.
How is God getting your attention today?
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.
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Bible References
Exodus 3:2-4 NIV
2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him [Moss] in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”
Jonah 2:1, 2, 9 NIV
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.
2 He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’ ”
Jonah 2:10 NIV
10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah 4:10, 11 NIV
10 the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.
11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
Matthew 3:16, 17 NIV
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
John 1:32, 33 NIV
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him [Jesus].
33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Mark 2:12 NIV
12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
