Can you hear God speak?
Do you ever wonder, can you hear God speak? Does He seem distant and silent while you’re drowning in desperation and despair? Can you hear God speak? Let me share a miracle with you, or maybe you have enough faith to believe in extraordinary coincidences. Decide for yourself.
Answering the call
“Do you have a cold?” I lied, “I think it’s allergies.” I guess the nose spray wasn’t powerful enough to disguise the emotion dripping from my face. A seemingly meaningless phone call opened the floodgate, because in my heart I knew the deeper meaning. Driving for an hour in the car alone, I talked to the Lord out loud. Okay, the truth is I yelled at Him. You may disagree, but I believe God welcomes our honesty and can handle our raw emotions. Through gritted teeth I told God He is enough and I prayed the prayer that brings complete peace,
“Whatever Lord“
Then I added, “Do what You’re going to do, just go ahead and do it.” My prayer wasn’t articulate or reverent, but it was honest and sincere. I want to pray correctly and go to the Word for comfort but the truth is, my mind flits between a thousand unpleasant possibilities. What if….
Invitation
Instead of getting stuck contemplating the million what ifs, I distracted myself by inviting someone I just met to lunch. If you know me, it’s not the first time. Let’s just say, we had a lot in common, as in A LOT in common. Not only were our life circumstances parallel, so was our desire to be obedient to what the Lord called us to do in our situations –
Love unconditionally, no matter what
It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done and usually I’m ready to quit by 2 p.m., some days before noon. I felt like I was looking in a mirror and listening to a recording of my own words over pizza. God knew I needed to hear them outside my own head and lay them fresh on my battered heart. He seems to know everything and there’s comfort in that. Even so, it was a rough day.
Over the edge
Still teetering on the edge of defeat, I opened the mail and felt like I had been shoved to the ground. The tears that glistened in my eyes over lunch came out in a torrent. I surrendered everything to God, I was obedient to His call, I keep standing against all evidence and against all odds, but I am tired. My counselor suggested I use “tired” instead of “done.” So I’m practicing on you, “I am tired.”
Coincidence?
At this very moment, I received a message from someone I’ve never met in a country 5 time zones away. Thirty-three messages later, I extended an invitation for her to come stay with me so I could hug her neck. Not the first time I’ve done that either. The life of my sister in Christ is so similar to mine, it’s uncanny. She messaged me at this exact crossroads, with the exact message I heard from God in June which was repeated by a total stranger over pepperoni a few hours earlier. Can someone please tell me, what are the odds of that?
Psalm 34:17, “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.” HCSB
God knew the day’s agenda and He so lovingly brought people into my path to confirm what He already told me:
Love like Jesus, no matter what
Be kind, patient and endure
Put your hope in the Lord
Keep standing, no matter what
So I’m standing instead of sobbing. And you know what? I’m smiling too. Because God sees me and He hears me and He cares enough to confirm His word on the very day I doubted, not once, but twice. His character is unchanging, all over this big old world.
Can you hear God speak?
Yes, I believe you can. Not audibly, but loud and clear if you ask Him and listen. He speaks to our hearts and confirms His message through other believers. Stay tuned, I’ll share more about hearing God speak. He sent me a text message.
I love that we can know with confidence that God speaks and we can hear Him if we stop long enough to listen.
My quiet time reading today was Proverbs 17. The very first verse spoke volumes to me – – – – “Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith . . . . ”
I often feel like so much of what I had is gone and there sometimes is not ‘enough’ and then God speaks to me thru His word to let me know that even though I may only possess a dry morsel, the quietness and stillness in the presence of God are worth more than riches. Being alone with God can be so refreshing and it gives me strength to go on.
I am thankful that we can hear God with our hearts when our minds and bodies are struggling with life itself.
God bless you for blessing me and so many others!!!!
Yes! Every single word. We can look at what we’ve lost it look at what we have. God really is enough. Bless you