God Speaks
When God speaks to us it is often in the quiet times of which the Psalmist says, "Be still and know that I am God." We have all experienced the quiet voice in the quiet time. Yet, there are other times---times of stress, frustration, anguish, as well as times of joy and happiness when we sense the sure, steady spirit of God.
Few of us experience God's voice as thunder and lightning in the sky; more than not, it often is a slow, insightful sensing of God's will and message that we describe as God speaking. This insight won't leave us, either; it says in our memory. We are also lifted up but yet humbled at the same time.
In the midst of a financial crisis brought on by a move to a better neighborhood and an emotional crisis boring on by a severe injury to my wife in a boating accident, I had had my share of anguish and frustration. A prayer to God for help out of this mess was answered by a sale of our boat to a man named Lazarus. Although I never met him face to face, he proved to be one of the most honest men I had ever dealt with. The proceeds of the sale allowed me to straighten up my financial condition, while at the same time my wife made steady progress toward recovery.
Afraid to read the Bible, after years of neglect, I read several times in to the early hours the account of Lazarus raising from the dead. A thought wouldn't leave me. . . .maybe I and my wife (who had come close to death) were the ones whom God was saving! In fact, perhaps we were being raised from the dead, just as Lazarus had been.
Another verse, ". . .you shall not live by bread alone. .." was constantly before me as I turned through the Gospels to read the different version of the revising of Lazarus. Was this God's voice? This might be God giving me advice about worry over finances. As weeks and moths passed, and as new church opportunities came, I was sure of it since many things seemed more important than bread. God cared for us all along, and was now pointing us in the direction he wanted us to go in his slow, insightful manner---right in the middle of frustration and anguish His voice could be heard.
Prayer: Pray thankfulness for the times God has spoken to you within quiet times and times of stress. Pray thankfulness for a God who speaks today and every day, as He cares for you.
Re-printed with permission of the author Robert Thompson.
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash
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