As a voice? As ideas?
When my friend Duane was about 12, he was going to meet his mom on his bike. He pedaled to an intersection, and stopped. He heard a voice say, “Stand away from there.” It made no sense to him, and Duane blew it off. Then it came again, clearly male, clearly a voice, “Stand away from there.”
Duane knew enough about his Bible stories, that when a voice came with instructions, it was a good idea to obey. So after hearing this voice the second time, he promptly moved his bike back about 50 feet. Moments later, two cars hit each other in a freak accident, right where he had been standing.
A few years later at the University of Illinois, one late night he put his coat on to go over to the English Department to copy some papers for a project. As he wrestled with the mental turmoil of a girlfriend problem, he asked God, “Speak to me, tell me what I should do.”
He recognized the same voice he had heard as a kid. This time it said, “Shut up and sit down.” He heard it distinctly twice. Duane laughed to himself -- he didn’t know God spoke like that! He did know that he had been feeling awfully sorry for himself. He sat down and did not go out that night.
The next day he learned that three armed men had broken into a building that housed the English department as well as a gymnasium and shot up the gym after a school dance was over. They hit a man with a rifle butt too. Duane would have been in that building, he said, at the very time and at the very spot violence occurred.
When my friend Duane was about 12, he was going to meet his mom on his bike. He pedaled to an intersection, and stopped. He heard a voice say, “Stand away from there.” It made no sense to him, and Duane blew it off. Then it came again, clearly male, clearly a voice, “Stand away from there.”
Duane knew enough about his Bible stories, that when a voice came with instructions, it was a good idea to obey. So after hearing this voice the second time, he promptly moved his bike back about 50 feet. Moments later, two cars hit each other in a freak accident, right where he had been standing.
A few years later at the University of Illinois, one late night he put his coat on to go over to the English Department to copy some papers for a project. As he wrestled with the mental turmoil of a girlfriend problem, he asked God, “Speak to me, tell me what I should do.”
He recognized the same voice he had heard as a kid. This time it said, “Shut up and sit down.” He heard it distinctly twice. Duane laughed to himself -- he didn’t know God spoke like that! He did know that he had been feeling awfully sorry for himself. He sat down and did not go out that night.
The next day he learned that three armed men had broken into a building that housed the English department as well as a gymnasium and shot up the gym after a school dance was over. They hit a man with a rifle butt too. Duane would have been in that building, he said, at the very time and at the very spot violence occurred.
Both these memories meant safety and protection for Duane. But -- everybody's different.
- How does God speak to you?
- Why does God speak to you? Is it always for safety?
- What’s the best way that you hear God speaking?
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Here are a few ideas:
The inaudible voice of Truth is,
to the human mind, "as when a lion roareth."
When you pray, go into
your room and shut the door,
pray to your Father who is in secret.
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