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Hearing God

Posted in God Stories, Holy Spirit, tagged , , on June 15, 2011| 9 Comments »

I had never really thought about it too much, but as I was speaking with a wonderful brother yesterday, he asked me exactly how God spoke to me.  I had related the following story to him.

When we moved to Tennessee we owned a house in Louisiana that we had purchased 4 years earlier.  The economy in Louisiana was in a decline when we moved and houses were not selling.  We had no money to purchase a home with until our house in Louisiana sold.

We looked at houses in Tennessee on our first visit to the area in January.  The realtor had our list of “needs”, our list of “wants”, and the price we could afford when our house in Louisiana sold.  He showed us 20+ homes that first visit focusing upon our needs and the price range we gave him.  None of the houses enticed us.  At the end of the day he took us to a house that had our needs and wants, but it was listed for twice the price we thought we could afford.  As we left the home that day I asked Max, the realtor, “Do you think $*** could buy this home?”  To which he replied, “That will never touch this house.”

Well I took the job and we moved, with my wife 7 months pregnant.  (Guys, my wife was very good about it, but I don’t recommend that as a general rule.)  We ended up in a two bedroom apartment with our 2 children and the 3rd soon to arrive.  We continued to look for a house and praying for our house in La to sell so we could actually consider buying a real home.

Child #3, Christin, arrived in early May and now there were 5 of us in a two bedroom apartment.  In our search we continued to focus upon our needs and the price range we could afford.  However we were drawn to the house that we couldn’t afford that met the list of needs and wants.  (I just want to point out the wants were not extravagant… I wanted a basement and Lisa wanted 4 bedrooms.)

On a Saturday in mid June we were driving around town with my parents showing them the few homes we were considering AND the home we liked but could not afford.  As we parked in the driveway of the home we liked another car pulled in behind us.  It turned out they were the co-builders of the home as well as neighbors.  We visited with them and they took us through the house.  We were so engaged in the conversation with them as we exited that it wasn’t until we got to the cars that we realized Christin was inside the house asleep in the living room.  We never discussed any business aspects of a purchase and while we liked Steve and Nancy, there was nothing to make us think we were closer to the purchase of the home until our house sold in Louisiana.

That Sunday night, or more precisely at 2:22 am Monday morning, I woke straight up with a clear sense of the Lord’s prompting.  My first thought was that God wanted me to pray for someone or something so I rolled out of bed onto my knees.  As I waited a few moments for the Lord to lay someone on my heart, it was quiet and nothing came to my mind.  So I prayed, “What is is Lord?”  To which the Lord spoke very clearly to my heart, “Dan, I am going to have you say special things to special people.  And to prove that I am going to take care of your house today!”  I said thank you Lord, waited a few more moments and then climbed into bed where I slept well until I got up quite joyfully the next morning.

As I brought Lisa her coffee in bed, I told her exactly what had happened and exactly what the Lord had said.  I remember her response, “So the Lord is going to take care of our house this week?”  “No Honey, He said He was going to take care of our house TODAY!”  I left for work fully expecting our realtor in Louisiana to call and say the house had sold.

About mid-morning Helen tracked me down and said Dan, you need to call your realtor.  I grinned and said, “I knew you were going to tell me that today.  Did Jimmy (our realtor in LA) leave his number?”  She told me not Jimmy, but Max, the TN realtor.  I remember thinking, I wonder what Max wants.  Maybe Jimmy called Max and a deal is going to work through Max.

I called Max and his first words were, “Boy, you’ve really done it.  Who have you been talking to?”  Well I was totally thrown off.  I thought we had done something wrong by the question and tone he used.  I asked what he meant and was something wrong.  He said “No, nothing is wrong.  Did you talk with anyone this weekend?”  Well the lights started to come on, “Yeah, we went by that house we like and we met the people that built it.  Is there a problem?”

“There is no problem.  All I’ve got to say is that you must have friends in some pretty high places.  Those people want you in that house!”  We made an offer that morning and by the end of the week we had a contract on the house at the price Max said wouldn’t touch the house.  On top of that they offered to let us rent until either our house sold or my company’s relocation package began helping pay the interest portion of the house in LA.  As I have said before we couldn’t buy a home until we had resolution to the house in LA.  (It was 4 years before it finally sold by the way.)

God had spoken and what He said He backed up in a very real and tangible way.  Now I want to analyze this a little to get at a few points that make up my understanding of how God speaks or perhaps more accurately how we hear or understand God.

First of all, the bible is full of instances where God speaks or directs people.  The vast majority are people who are “His” people: Abraham, Moses, the prophets, the apostles, the new testament prophets such as Agabus, etc.  (Balaam I would put in the category of God speaking to, but not necessarily in the same category as children of God.)  There is nothing in scripture that indicates that God would stop speaking or directing His people.  Therefore, I see no reason not to believe that He still does.

Now there are numbers of people today who claim to “hear from God”.  Unfortunately some we hear about are making pronouncements that do not square with scripture.  That is one of the key characteristics that I believe the Lord has impressed upon me, God cannot lie and He cannot sin.  Therefore if we hear a voice telling us something that is counter to scripture, we question the voice because the scripture is God’s will revealed.

My friend Phil asked does God speak in an audible voice.  While I believe He can, my experience has not been an audible voice, but it was very clear and distinct words.  As my story above demonstrates it can be specific directions with exact, verifable information.  In my experience, this type of specificity is a bit more of the exception.  The norm is a sense of peace as I am contemplating an action or decision that affirms “this is the way, walk in it” and a lack of peace when considering other options.  I will give examples of this in a later post.

Saying this is not an audible voice doesn’t rule out some important aspects of what it is like when God speaks.  First off, there are times when it carries significant emotion… love, empathy, urgency, these have all been associated with things the Lord has spoken to my heart.

Sadly, I have to admit that God’s speaking does not always mean that I have obeyed.  I understand that God speaking is through His Holy Spirit who indwells the believer at conversion.  The Holy Spirit prompted me to stay and talk with an instructor after a training session one time years ago.  On the first day of the week long class, Sid had given us an exercise to draw a lifeline.  I had drawn mine with a step change which I explained as being my conversion experience.  Sid kind of used that as a point of “poking fun” at me for the rest of the session.  On Wednesday he wrapped up class 30 minutes early and asked us all to stay for drinks and discussion.  The Holy Spirit very clearly let me know to stay and talk with Sid.  But I rationalized that I didn’t drink alcohol and I had a project going on at home and so I did not stay.  The next day Sid let us know at lunch that he wasn’t feeling well and that he was going to the emergency room to get checked out.  That night Sid died.  This happened about a year after we moved into the new home that God had miraculously provided.  And I had failed to remember the first part of what God spoke that night… “Dan, I am going to have you say special things to special people…” I grieved the Holy Spirit that day.  I have confessed and repented of this, but as with any sin there were consequences suffered.

I don’t always get it right, but I know that God has covered my sins and failures with the precious blood of His Son, Jesus.  I missed it with Sid, but I am trying to be obedient and listen to what the Lord says.  Sometimes He will speak in a manner that is riveting.  Sometimes it is a gentle nudge.  Sometimes it is through scripture that ignites within me.  Almost always His voice is accompanied with His peace.

I have to end for today, but I will visit this topic more since I feel a burden to share reasons we may struggle to hear His voice.  Please let me know if you read this.  I would be happy to engage in a conversation.  I am a sojourner as you are.  Traveling with others is much more enjoyable than walking alone.

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Tornados and the Grace of God

Posted in God Stories on May 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Our daughter Christin recently led a group of college students on a short-term mission trip back to Chattanooga, Tennessee where we lived for 18 years and she went to middle and high school.   Planning for the trip took about a year.  She arranged for the group of 32 students and chaperones to help at a children’s home, a homeless shelter, a nursing home, and a rescue mission.  What they were unable to plan for was the timing of the tornados that ripped across the southeast 5 days before they are arrived.  Chattanooga took a severe hit from the storms.  One of the areas hit was Cherokee Valley not far from Christin’s school.  Here are two of Christin’s stories from their trip. 

When we arrived in Chattanooga we began to follow our plan by going to the ministries that we had already arranged to help.  Since we had a large group we split into two teams and met with the leaders at the nursing home and children’s home.  All of our team was really motivated and we rapidly completed the tasks that were given to us.  At the children’s home there were a lot of tree limbs and clean up from the storm, but nothing like what we were to see a little later.

Because we made such good progress in our tasks, the suggestion was made to provide some storm relief in Cherokee Valley where a tornado had actually touched down and destroyed many homes.  So the next day we split up again with a group heading to Cherokee Valley the next afternoon.  When we got there we met at the small local church that had just barely been spared.  We met with the pastor and offered our services.  He was cautious at first and only gave us some “safe” jobs.  As we earned his trust he took us to an area of the valley that had been badly damaged. 

It’s hard to describe the damage and the overwhelming sense of loss.  On the side of the hill was a home that had sustained some damage, a little lower down was a home that was about half gone and across the street was a concrete pad and some cinder blocks where a trailer home had been a week prior.  In the matter of a few seconds these peoples’ lives had been radically changed, in some cases forever.  It was very sobering.  Our instructions were simple.  Pick up whatever we found and put it into one of three piles.  Anything wood that would burn was one pile, whatever was metal was a second, and anything that was of a personal nature into the third.  While the scope of damage made this daunting, we simply laid our hands on the first thing that was within reach and we began.

With 7 willing souls we made better progress than we initially expected.  Before long we had the grounds around what had been a home sifted into the three piles, but we had a problem.  The front wall of the home had fallen over and was covering material that we couldn’t reach.  The wall was essentially intact so we all got together and began lifting.  Although it was hard we were able to flip the wall over and continue our work.  About this time the owner of the home arrived – Ms. Bryson, the “mayor” of the valley.  Ms Bryson is 86 years young and I hope I am as spry at 86 as she is.  Ms. Bryson was called the mayor for the simple fact that she had lived in the valley longer than anyone else having arrived in 1949.  And for the entire time, 62 years, she lived in the same home… the one that was essentially a pile of ruble now.

We said we were sorry for her home, but we were glad she was unharmed.  Then she told us how she came to be alive.  Even though she had lived in the valley the longest she was by no means one of the old folks.  She said that it has been her habit to visit the old people in the valley to sit with them and provide the care that she could.  On the day of the storms she left her home at 4:00 pm to go sit with an elderly gentleman of 89 years.  By 4:30 pm her home was no more.  But by the grace of God she would have been in her home and in all likelihood would not have survived. 

She went on to relate about another one of her neighbors in the valley.  This friend was actually in her home when the storm struck.  She had been reading her bible and had knealt down to pray when her house was blown away.  She was lifted by the tornado and carried outside, but she was not seriously injured.  When the neighbor went back into her house looking for anything that she could salvage she found her bible with a nail through it holding it to the floor so that it did not blow away.   It was open to chapter 1 of Job where she read – The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. 

As Ms Bryson was finishing this story Kara, one of our team, came up with a bible she found in the midst of Ms Bryson’s home.  It turned out to be the bible of her deceased daughter.   What a blessing to Ms Bryson and a blessing for us to be there to help and celebrate with her.

Well after these encouraging stories we moved on to help in the clean up with renewed enthusiasm.  Ms Bryson had a cinder block storage building against the hill at the back of her property.  It had been knocked over but it wasn’t shattered.  (BTW – I found what I now consider one of the neatest tools ever – a sledgehammer.  I think a sledgehammer would come in handy during exam week for stress relief.)  With it we made short work of the cinder blocks.  And under the walls we found TREASURE… we found glass momentos that weren’t shattered, pictures, and other momentos.  In the midst of all the devastation we joined with Ms Bryson in celebration of His Grace… for the sparing her and her neighbor when by all rights they should have died, for providing these two bibles, and for new friends who were expressing their love in a tangible way by helping the people of the community begin to recover from their loss.

Christin has several other wonderful stories from her trip.  The point that I take from this is that the most important ability is often Availability.  These young people made themselves available to the Lord and specifically asked for Him to use them.  And He honored their request.  When we are obedient we can be confident that God will use us in HIS ways to accomplish HIS marvelous purpose.

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A Walk with Cancer

Posted in God Stories, Prayer on May 7, 2011| 1 Comment »

A small group of 15 of us within our company at locations across North America joined together in prayer from March 9 – April 24.  We shared stories of God’s faithfulness, we looked at scripture, and we strove to be Jesus’ hands and feet in the places He put us during this time.  This blog is an outcome of that time. 

This blog is a means to continue sharing the faith with friends and co-workers.  For a few weeks I will post some of the more memorable postings from the our Easter 2011 journey.  I will also add new content. 

The posting below was from Day 3 in our Easter journey and describes the faith of a young woman battling cancer.

I took off yesterday to work a leadership conference at our church.  It was very exciting to see that many leaders, 2700, from all around the world gather to learn about how to more effectively minister.  I worked as a volunteer – meeting, greeting, and helping wherever I could.  I feel like I have 60 new friends from the many conversations that I was able to have with folks.  

I believe one conversation in particular was God-ordained for our prayer group.  The young woman, Jennifer, is 30 years old with a bright smile and dark curly hair.  As we spoke she alluded to how God has been so present for her especially through her treatments.  I asked and she shared that she is a cancer survivor with a year of clean readings.  I asked her long term prognosis and she said that her doctors told her it would return in 8 – 10 years, but she was totally convinced that the Lord who has brought her this far will see her through whatever lies ahead.  I asked about her beautiful curly hair (I once had a head full of curly hair too… once long ago it seems) and she told me it was one of God’s gifts to her AFTER the treatments.  She lost almost all her hair, but when it came back it was curly.  She had never had curly hair before.  

Now all of this was greatly encouraging for me, but then she got to the part that I think is for all of us.  She said that as she went through the treatments she continued to work.  At some point during the process her co-worker in the next booth told her.  “I just want you to know that your faith and strength have been such an encouragement to me.  They have made me look at my life and I realize I want what you have.  So I have gone to church and I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour”.  WOW!  And Jennifer then told me, “I don’t really want to go through the cancer and treatments again, but if God can use me to bring 3 – 5 people to know him through my cancer, then I think that is a great thing.”  A double WOW!

Lord Jesus, give us the kind of faith that says “Yes Lord, No matter what the cost”.  Give us the kind of witness Lord that causes people to look to You.  Give us the hope Lord that allows us to see the bigger picture through Your eyes.

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