God speaks. Do you hear Him? Some would say that God only speaks through the Bible, but I would say they are missing out on a wonderful intimate connection with their Creator. The Bible certainly is the infallible Word of God, and is the measuring stick for all other whispers we may hear and we certainly need to test the word. Three questions I always consider are: does it line up with the full counsel of God in scripture, does it line up with God’s character and heart and does it have the potential to bless someone else.
Here’s the beauty of hearing God’s voice and spontaneous direction; every once in a while, we get to bring Heaven to earth, for someone else.
A few years ago I was wrapping up a full evening of writing after getting a lot accomplished; my brain got a great workout, and I had a sudden craving for chocolate. It was late and I was aware that chocolate was not the best thing for my body so I tried to resist, but the compulsion continued, so I checked in with God. HaHa, you may laugh, but I’m being serious here! Gluttony and food addictions are a serious thing and lead to sin and I really am trying to be diligent in living holy, so I check in with God, for even small things. I simply asked God, “What do you think about this Lord?” All I heard in response was, “It’s ok.” So then I went into an in depth Bible study to find the words, “It’s ok”, to see if they lined up with scripture…. Lol… just kidding. I believe that I have heard His voice enough by now to know the sound of it and to trust the peace in my spirit. So off I went to the corner store to buy a piece of heaven… I mean chocolate.
As I’m driving to the store, all of a sudden I get a nudge to drive a slightly different route, so I make a pretty abrupt right turn. The sky is heavy with black clouds, I can hear thunder in the distance and the sky is about to unleash some heavy rain. I get to the next corner and stop and this guy, shirtless, rides a bicycle sporadically across the road in front of me, and can’t decide if he’s going to ride down the middle of the road or at the side. I cautiously make my left turn making sure that he’s not going to suddenly get in my way. A few blocks down I see a young woman walking fast, trying to juggle some things, looking behind her and I think, “Awe, the poor thing. It’s about to storm; she’s going to get wet. Where is she going?” But, I keep driving.
I get to the store a few minutes later, go in, buy my chocolate and get back into my car. As I’m sitting in the van (I had backed up into the parking spot, don’t ask me why) scarfing down a candy bar, I look into my side mirror and see the same young woman that had been walking, on the pay phone just outside the store. Suddenly, I hear in my mind, “She needs a ride” and I go, “huh?” Then, I hear, “Give her a ride.” The conversation continues…“What? What if she wants to go somewhere far? Really? Is that you God?”, “Yes”. So, my heart starts beating faster, I start sweating and I try to think how I’m going to approach a complete stranger and offer her a ride to where ever. “How am I going to approach her? This is weird. Maybe it’s just my imagination.” After a few more minutes of trying to get my nerve up, I can’t let it go and I am utterly compelled, so I get out of my car.
She’s talking to someone franticly and she’s upset, “Excuse me, I’m sorry, um excuse me? Um, I was just sitting in my car and um, do you need a ride somewhere?” She looks at me like a deer in the headlights and exclaims, “ARE YOU A COP!? I say, “NO! No, I’m not a cop. I believe I just heard God tell me to give you a ride. Do you need a ride? I’d be happy to take you where you need to go.” However, at this point, I’m starting to get concerned about what I just got myself into, but the very next moment, she burst into tears.
The next 45 minutes were a whirlwind of God’s activity and divine appointment. Sarah was her name. She explained to me quickly that she needed to get out of there; that her boyfriend was drunk, coming after her and that he was dangerous. We quickly got into my van together and drove away.
As I drove her clear across the city to the other side of Windsor, she told me her story and poured her heart out. The year before, her boyfriend had beaten her up so bad, she was in the hospital for a week to recover. I witnessed to her, shared the love of Christ and encouraged her to reconnect with a church that she had gone to before. I let her know that God saw her. That His eye was on her and He was aware of Her situation and needs; that He cared. I told her how I was compelled to go out to get chocolate and how God had sent me to get her. She wept even more.
I turned off the highway onto Huron Church Road, a route I had taken many times when my mother was sick in hospital, just before she died. It was a familiar route. It was a route to grief. However, this time, it wasn’t. We came to a stop light still a few blocks away from her destination and suddenly the Lord whispered to me, “You just saved her life.” I now was in tears along side her. Thank God I heard and listened. Wow, what a God ordained window of time in both of our lives.
So you see, God does whisper to us. We do hear His voice. It’s just that most of the time, His whispers seem so outrageous to our minds and limited understanding of what’s possible that we think it’s just a crazy idea that we’ve come up with ourselves, and we reason it away. We miss out on so much! Lord, help us!
Help us to discern your voice and give us the courage and boldness to follow through on what you’ve said Lord. Help us to be light in this dark world. Help us to love others and bless others as you have loved and blessed us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.