Laying in bed, I remember a conversation from a month earlier. I can’t remember the details exactly, not a perfect quote, but I can remember the idea, who was speaking, and the inflections in our voices. When I hear God speak to me, it is a lot like I am recalling an earlier conversation. I “hear” in my mind the memory. The voice of God is a lot like mine and yet different in the pattern of speech, in the inflection, and usually in the content.
In church this week, right before communion, I was praying. I was confession to God my weak faith. My concern about money issues was chief on my mind. [I want to preface the rest that I DO NOT believe that the world is “coming to an end” on May 21.] However…as I was praying, God brought this date to my mind. (I believe God uses common things and things we see everyday to help us understand Him.) So, very much like I was recalling a conversation from the past, I hear God say, “If I do choose to end the world on May 21st, will you have enough money?” My response was, “Oh Yes! We have plenty to live on until May 21st.” And believe it or not, my heart felt a little less burdened right then. Then, God sent His convicting message, “So, what you are saying is that you don’t believe that I will provide for you after May 21st.” Which, now to me, seemed ridiculous and I said, “of course I believe you can provide for me after that.” And He reminded me, “of course I will provide for you…” I felt forgiven of the sin of doubt and reassured of God’s provision.
After all of that, my “feelings” were quite convincing that I had an encounter with God, but I don’t think that it is smart to rely on feelings. I think it would be too easy for the enemy of our souls to use our feelings to trick us. That Sunday’s sermon was about stepping out in our faith and living a more exciting and full life through Christ. There would have been NO WAY to predict that the pastor (who is not of the denomination or of the belief in the May 21st “end” date) would bring that up. NO WAY!!! But, as has happened in many instances of God speaking to me, somehow he brought the “conversation” that had happened in my head out through the mouth of the pastor and that is my reassurance that God has spoken. Pastor said (after making sure we understood the bad theology behind that date), “what if the world was ending in 20 days…how would that affect the way you lived your life?”
So, before the sermon started, as I was praying, God spoke to me in a very real, convincing, calming, reassuring, forgiving way and then to reinforce that, He spoke again through the pastor using the same reference and words he had said to me, only about 15 minutes later. And, of course God wouldn’t speak anything in contradiction to His word. God speaks. I know He is speaking and the only reason I don’t hear Him is that I choose not to listen.
I realize how important it was for me to be in church that day. It is so important to hear confirming words when we hear God; and one of the ways we can do that is by attending Church and meeting with other believers. If I had not been in church on Sunday, I would have missed this perfect message from God and spent so much time worrying unnecessarily. I would have missed hearing His voice, and let me tell you, His voice is like a drug…once you have heard from Him, you never want to hear anything else. It reminds me of Hebrews 10:23-25: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
