A few days ago, Amy brought home two copies of the same children’s magazine for Chloe and Cole.

This morning, Cole came into the living room with both magazines. He gave one to Chloe, and both of them sat down side-by-side. A few minutes later, Amy quietly got my attention and pointed at Chloe and Cole. They were going through their magazines, turning the pages together. They giggled, they pointed at the pictures and they talked about what they saw.

It’s easy to communicate clearly when you’re on the same page, isn’t it?

Many times, people don’t hear what God is telling them because they’re not on the same page with him. Perhaps they are not on the same page with him because of sin, distractions or a difference in personal priorities. We turn the pages of our lives faster than he wants us to, or we don’t turn them fast enough. The things he wants for us go unheeded or even ignored.

It reminds me of Esther. A Jewish woman elevated to the position of a Persian queen.

Her cousin Mordecai learned of a plot to extinguish the Jewish people. He sent word to her, asking her to seek the king’s intervention. When she balked at Mordecai’s request, he sent these words to her: “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this” (Esther 4:13-14)?

Mordecai was encouraging Esther to get on the same page with God. God is the one who allowed her to be queen. God is the one who allowed Mordecai to discover the plot. And if Esther was to save the Jewish people, she had to realize God could have allowed these events for solely one purpose: to save his people.

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done something like that. Read the account of Joseph in Genesis 37-50.

In the end, Esther got on the same page with God and the Jewish people were saved.

Are you on the same page with God? Are you able to communicate clearly with him and hear what he’s telling you?

Confess sins, remove distractions and reorganize priorities. Do whatever you have to do to get on the same page with God.

The Rev. Parrish Myers is a local minister living in Braselton. His column appears biweekly in Sunday Life and on gainesvilletimes.com/life.