Can you hear God speak? Do you think it is possible to hear God speak? Many would argue that thinking you hear God is a psychological phenomenon or that we read meaning into ordinary things to make them extraordinary. I would say, to be fair, that we may be subject to such ‘head-games’, but in my experience when God speaks He is loud and clear.
One of my more popular articles, “Is That You God or My Imagination?”, prompted some requests to give more examples and to bring more to light. So it is with joy in my heart that I can testify concerning God speaking to me today (06-25-2013).
This is how it all went down. The chain reaction started with prayer and a fresh breath of grace. Grace can cover you, can be ‘on’ you, can greet you in the morning, and can be your divine muse. The only way I know how to be pulled into grace is to meditate on it, to think on it, to cherish it and to explore it. Thinking and meditating on grace, beckons grace; that is as simple as I can make it. So I was enjoying this freedom in grace and I got swept into Hebrews by way of our Tuesday morning Bible fellowship. In my study of Hebrews, chapter 2, I ran into the statement that basically says that Christ suffered and took on flesh to bring “many sons to glory”. That little (infinitely large) verse made me turn back to John 17:22 where Jesus prays to the Father and states that He is giving us glory as the Father gave Him glory. Huh? What? Hold the phone here. Jesus wants to bring many of us to glory and He wants to give us glory? I thought glory belonged to God and God alone. A dear pastor friend of mine pointed out once that YHWH in the Old Testament never, ever shared His glory with anyone or anything. In fact, to even come near to His glory would almost always result in death! I mean Moses was behind a rock in a cave while His glory passed, and the old man glowed so much so he had to veil his face as not to blind anyone (no sunglasses back then). So what is up with the whole glory deal? Is it the same as sanctification? If it is His glory, we can’t own it or earn it; so why does He want to share? I am not worthy, and I’m not sure I partcularly want said glory! So I went about my day with the fragrance of grace following me around and my mind obsessed with this notion of glory.
That evening, Monday night, as I was reading Hebrews 2 again, I got caught up in the thought that Christ literally ‘put on flesh’ to pay the debt we could not. I also was very moved by the last part of the chapter where it states that Jesus understands everything we go through because He was tempted, suffered greatly, and most of all shared being human. I was just abiding in this word and smitten with my Lord; the Spirit just let me stay there a while. And I think I fell asleep reading.
I am not a morning person as it were; my genetic disposition demands more than a moment to get all the cylinders firing. I lay the blame squarely on my mother. I rarely think a thought worth thinking before at least one good cup of coffee. So it was a pleasant surprise to wake up at 3:30am…I know, is there anything pleasant about 3:30-anything? I am confident that most people understand where I’m going here and have been there themselves.
Yes, you guessed it: the Spirit rolled me right out of bed!
I always know it is He because I’m never tired or sleepy when awakened by Him, and I’m almost always clear as a bell mentally.
I sat for a minute or two and it was very quiet and peaceful. I then noticed a glowing outside my window. I made my way outside to get some fresh air and the humid, sultry breeze of a summer’s night greeted me. I was surprised at how warm it was at that hour. When I stepped out into the night sky, what greeted me was nothing less than breathtaking. I took a photo with my smart-phone, but it is a weak representation…still, I wanted to document my moment with God. I included that photo below, but let me describe it first.
There was a halo around the moon, like a rainbow. I have seen this many times before but the intensity was surreal, and it was made even more spectacular by the fact that the rest of the sky was clear and inky black. There were no clouds in the sky…except one little wispy haze of a cloud…that happened to be in my exact line of vision. The moon was as bright as could be and glorious. And here is where the God that speaks spoke. In my deepest being, a gentle wave overtook me in a moment. Everything was shown to me in an instant and I honestly can’t put it into words, but the main message was this: It brings God pleasure for us to reflect His glory; just like the moon reflects the sun, so we should let our light shine by reflecting His light. For what is the moon without the sun? And what is the moon without a reckoning of its beauty?
That moment in the moonlight gazing upward, I felt as free as the breeze rustling and tickling the treetops and as secure in grace as I have ever felt.
So I had been wrestling with the whole notion of glory and particularly sharing God’s glory, feeling like I really didn’t deserve such an honor, wondering what that would or should look like, and generally excited but confused. In one moment, God answered my question. Sharing His glory with us brings Him glory…and almost better than that…it makes His heart glad and full of joy! Did you know that you can bless God and make the God of the Universe joyful? It’s true! He told me so…
disciplegideon 