Dear Tom:
I don’t know anyone who God has spoken to directly, not even through an interpreter like a burning bush. I am talking about direct communication, such as “ Go to Egypt, and free my people,” or “Quit your job, and go to Africa,” or like he did to Bill Cosby, “Build an ark.” Yet, I do know people who believe he has spoken through events in their lives. There are dramatic events in our lives, such as Cancer going in remission or a transplant being available just at the right time where it seems God is speaking. There are also every day events such as a child’s smile, the smell of honeysuckle, or just a bright spring day, where it seems God is present and speaking to us. What is difficult is that we are so used to hearing what we want to hear and remaining deaf to what we don’t want to hear that it is hard to get it right. Even when we do get the message right we are so used to misinterpreting, we doubt the message. And sometimes we are just so hard-headed that like the saying goes we are like, “ the mule that needs a 2 x 4 between his ears to get his attention.”
I believe that that it takes practice, just like an athlete training his/her body, to train ourselves to keep our mind and heart as well as our ears open. Then, I think we will come to recognize that however faintly we hear God, he is indeed speaking to each of us. What he has to say to each of us is so precious and wonderful it is beyond my ability to tell. They say that one’s autobiography is a way of praying. I believe each of our lives is a story of messages from God if we are patient enough to listen, and inquisitive enough to inquire.
More on this tomorrow.
Your friend, Webb
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