Heidi McLaughlin, the featured speaker at our recent “Beauty Unleashed” conference, told the participants that she asks God to give her several words each year to guide her. Then she invited the women to join her in this spiritual exercise and prayerfully ask the Lord for several words. After they “heard” them, she invited people to write them on helium filled balloons and release them as messages sent up to heaven.
I learned later that one of the women felt somewhat deflated because she didn’t “hear” any words from God. So I asked my wife how she felt about the exercise. Marja said that she didn’t “hear” anything from God, either, but she did find herself thinking about something that I had shared with her earlier that week. I had told her that I’ve been feeling some anxiety lately but that a recurring question kept running through my brain: “Peter, do you trust me?”
I don’t know if this internal question is a thought originating in my sub-conscious, the voice of Jesus speaking to my spirit, or an echo of Psalm 56:3 which says, “When I am afraid I will trust in you.” I know only that the words “Do you trust me?” are encouraging me right now. So Marja decided to claim them as God’s words for her, too, and wrote, “Trust me” on her balloon.
With the eyes of faith, I believe that you can see God everywhere. But can you also hear God speak?
Old Testament writers heard the Lord’s voice in the sound of thunder or the whisper of a breeze. New Testament believers heard God’s voice whenever they read the scriptures or listened to Jesus speaking. But what do we make of those who claim to hear God today as if they have a direct line to the Lord? Are they to be believed? Or are they just exaggerating?
Another person who heard Heidi speak about this recalled it more as a process of praying and thinking than receiving actual words spoken directly by God. Because God is involved in this process, he gets the ultimate credit for whatever word, phrase or thought that comes to mind. I suspect that it usually works in this way.
But I do remember a specific, memorable instance when God did seem to speak directly to me. It happened in Covenant CRC in St. Catharines at a time when my Dad was facing heart by-pass surgery. During the congregational prayer, I invited everyone to be still and listen for anything that God might say, much like Heidi suggested at the conference. In those moments of silence I distinctly “heard” these words: “Don’t worry. It will be all right.”
Was it God giving me a direct message? Possibly. In any case, whether these words came from my subconscious or the Lord, they gave me comfort and were affirmed when my Dad made it through surgery.
And what about that rhetorical question that I keep hearing lately, “Peter, do you trust me?” Is it a thought, a subconscious wish or a divine message? I’m not sure and I won’t pretend that I am. Time will tell. But in the meantime, with the ears of faith, I take comfort in the idea that my spirit has received some reassuring personal words from God again
Jesus often said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Perhaps it’s time to incorporate Christ’s words into Paul Baloche’s song Open The Eyes of My Heart, Lord and start singing, “Open the ears of our hearts, Lord. We want to hear you. We want to hear you.”
- Pastor Peter
I learned later that one of the women felt somewhat deflated because she didn’t “hear” any words from God. So I asked my wife how she felt about the exercise. Marja said that she didn’t “hear” anything from God, either, but she did find herself thinking about something that I had shared with her earlier that week. I had told her that I’ve been feeling some anxiety lately but that a recurring question kept running through my brain: “Peter, do you trust me?”
I don’t know if this internal question is a thought originating in my sub-conscious, the voice of Jesus speaking to my spirit, or an echo of Psalm 56:3 which says, “When I am afraid I will trust in you.” I know only that the words “Do you trust me?” are encouraging me right now. So Marja decided to claim them as God’s words for her, too, and wrote, “Trust me” on her balloon.
With the eyes of faith, I believe that you can see God everywhere. But can you also hear God speak?
Old Testament writers heard the Lord’s voice in the sound of thunder or the whisper of a breeze. New Testament believers heard God’s voice whenever they read the scriptures or listened to Jesus speaking. But what do we make of those who claim to hear God today as if they have a direct line to the Lord? Are they to be believed? Or are they just exaggerating?
Another person who heard Heidi speak about this recalled it more as a process of praying and thinking than receiving actual words spoken directly by God. Because God is involved in this process, he gets the ultimate credit for whatever word, phrase or thought that comes to mind. I suspect that it usually works in this way.
But I do remember a specific, memorable instance when God did seem to speak directly to me. It happened in Covenant CRC in St. Catharines at a time when my Dad was facing heart by-pass surgery. During the congregational prayer, I invited everyone to be still and listen for anything that God might say, much like Heidi suggested at the conference. In those moments of silence I distinctly “heard” these words: “Don’t worry. It will be all right.”
Was it God giving me a direct message? Possibly. In any case, whether these words came from my subconscious or the Lord, they gave me comfort and were affirmed when my Dad made it through surgery.
And what about that rhetorical question that I keep hearing lately, “Peter, do you trust me?” Is it a thought, a subconscious wish or a divine message? I’m not sure and I won’t pretend that I am. Time will tell. But in the meantime, with the ears of faith, I take comfort in the idea that my spirit has received some reassuring personal words from God again
Jesus often said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Perhaps it’s time to incorporate Christ’s words into Paul Baloche’s song Open The Eyes of My Heart, Lord and start singing, “Open the ears of our hearts, Lord. We want to hear you. We want to hear you.”
- Pastor Peter
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