Immediate Obedience

I am in the middle of paying bills right now, which may seem like an odd time to share a challenge - and an odd source from which to receive one. But, I just had to stop and share. It was a sharp reminder for me... I am very detailed when it comes to paying bills. I actually have two check registers. One in Quicken and one on paper. I reconcile them both together weekly, the paper one to my bank online weekly, and the Quicken one to the bank statement monthly. The system is probably not the most efficient, and it has the potential to be very confusing, but it has helped me catch many errors made due to bad math or forgetting to enter something, so it works for me. Today I started off totally unbalanced. I had a huge discrepancy between Quicken and my paper register. The confusing thing was that last week they balanced when I finished paying bills. What had happened? I started to pray immediately. I saw the bank statement resting in my receipt/bill basket, and the thought occurred to me that maybe I should go ahead and reconcile it right then. But, I pushed that thought aside - I usually do the bank statement after everything else. For now I needed to try to figure out the discrepancy. The bank statement continued to nag at me, though. For the next 45 minutes I worked to look through receipts and entries and try to solve the problem, praying all the while. Finally, I stopped to pray a very focused prayer again, and again the thought of taking care of that bank statement came to my mind. So, I set everything aside, reconciled the bank statement...and found the problem! A glitch in Quicken caused several entries to be posted twice, and it didn't show up until I reconciled the bank statement. What a simple, yet powerful, reminder. God gives me little nudges as I go through my day. Little thoughts to show me what I need to do in everyday life - even in paying bills. How often do I ignore those thoughts and nudges? How often would each moment go smoother if I would just pay attention? How much quicker would the bill-paying have gone this morning if I'd listened in the first place? I have a full plate today, and my work would have been done sooner if I'd just paid attention. God is faithful to answer. Will I be faithful to listen?