Conversations with God - Marnie Pohlmann

“People who say they hear God’s voice are crazy!”

I looked up from my desk and responded to my co-worker, who had come in from dealing with a drug-abusing client.

“Um, some are, yeah. God speaks to me all the time.”

“But not in an audible voice.”

“Well,” I said hesitantly, “Sure. In a lot of ways. Sometimes with a hit upside the head.”

“But he doesn’t tell you to do crazy things.”

“God guides me, and some people might think the path is crazy. I am married to a pastor, you know, and I do work here.”

We laughed. He turned to go back on the road.

“Remind me sometime to tell you about when I met God,” I called after him.

That conversation was a while ago now, but I have often pondered how I would respond should the subject come up again. Has God audibly spoken to me? How does God speak to me? The evil one tries to imitate God, and I sometimes act like I am God, so do I know what I hear is God’s voice, God’s direction?

My memory of salvation at a summer Bible camp includes the form of a man sitting beside me, explaining this was my choice, and if I chose to follow Him, He would never leave me. I understood during that conversation the choice did not mean a change in my situation, but I knew I would somehow be protected with His presence in my life.

Jesus? An angel? Perhaps just the imagination of a child creating a memory among so many missing memories? Whatever your theology on the matter, God’s invitation was and is clear. Follow Him. He will never leave you, and His presence makes all the difference.

I’ve also heard God speak to me through songs. Even when I strayed down a stony path, God reminded me through an often-played song, of His presence as He waited for me to follow Him once again.

Many years later the words of a different song began a conversation between God and me about what the song meant at that moment. “It is Well with My Soul.” One of my husband’s favourite hymns began to play as I drove along.

“So, God,” I asked anxiously, “does that song mean the ambulance I just saw is for Wally? Is it well with his soul? Because he is now with you or because he’s alright and not hurt?”

“What did I tell the disciples?”

“That the other disciple’s story is none of their concern.”

“Right.”

“So, Wally’s wellness is none of my business?”

“Right. Is it well with your soul?”

Comfort washed away my anxiety (most of it). Yes, no matter what happened to Wally on that motorcycle, my soul was well because God was ever-present with me.

Three years later, I sat alone in the hospital waiting room. I hadn’t read that day’s devotional, so I opened the app on my phone.

            For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand and

says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13 NIV)

“So, after the mammogram and the magnified mammogram, this ultrasound will confirm they are looking for cancer?” I asked.

“Yes, there is cancer.”

“Okay. As long as you are holding my hand.”

The peace at that moment was beyond anything I have known since. God was with me and that would make all the difference.

The story was different after another three years as I stood beside a hospital bed, weeping.

“God, please don’t take my man. I need him. I don’t know how to live without him.”

“This choice is not yours.”

“I know. But I’m not strong enough to handle this,” I argued.

“Am I with you?”

“Yes.”

“Am I with him?”

“Yes.”

“Will you trust me?”

“I can’t fight you. If you want him now, I know it will be right whether I like it or not.” That was as far as I was willing to go at that moment, but I felt the Lord’s arms wrap around me as He stood beside me once again.

It took a long time, years, to give in to God on this. Even though Wally’s cancer and complications did not kill him, and I still enjoy life with him beside me, (40 years next spring!) I was almost resentful that God would treat him - no, me - like that. The fear of abandonment was deep and brought up all sorts of hidden emotions and thoughts; unhealthy thoughts that were buried deep that I once again needed to work through to separate the lies from the Truth. It’s not an easy battle, and it continues to wage on.

Isn’t that the point, though? God is with me and will walk beside me, and even carry me, through this earthly life. Jesus has saved me, so my soul is well. The Spirit does teach me Truth. Yet the question remains and is probably the most important aspect of hearing God’s voice.

How can we be sure we are hearing God’s voice?

We are very good at wanting to go our own way, finding any justification to convince ourselves it is God’s guidance. However, God has provided practical tests that will confirm or deny that we are in God’s will, responding to His guidance, and hearing His voice.

Test 1.

Does what we are hearing line up with Scripture? First and foremost, do we know what God has said in His Word so the Spirit of God can remind us of God’s view? The Bible has been preserved throughout time for a reason.

Test 2.

Have we prayed? Have we opened a conversation with God, believing He will respond to us? How God responds may look different for each of us. Am I listening for how He might talk to me?

Test 3.

Only after talking to God and considering His Word do we go to others for their opinion. And not just any other. This is not a time to collect a team of yes-men, but to seek out other Believers who you respect and trust to ask discerning questions about what you are hearing.

Test 4.

The last test - not to be used before the others - is circumstance. Have you laid out a fleece, and perhaps even laid it out again, as Gideon did in Judges 6? God can use our situation to lead us, to open and close doors, but I reiterate, do not depend on your circumstances to be God’s voice. Know His voice, first.

“Only crazy people hear God’s voice.”
Call me crazy, then. Do you hear God calling your name? 

I hear God’s voice. Do you?

Marnie Pohlmann writes to share the difference made in the life of one who listens to God's voice. Hard of hearing at times, she continues to learn Truth.

Consider Carefully - M. Laycock

“Therefore consider carefully how you listen.” Luke 8:18

It never ceases to amaze me how you can read a passage of scripture that is very familiar and suddenly see - or hear - something that you’ve never seen or heard before. Such was the case when I read Luke 8:16-18. It’s a familiar passage, one often quoted in the context of gifts and talents. But that is not the context. The context is talking about hearing and receiving God’s word.

It comes immediately after the parable of the sower – that wonderful and somewhat convicting passage about those who were hearing the word but received it in different ways, under different circumstances. For a while I wondered how these two passages were connected. They seemed isolated – one about hearing, the other about sharing. But as I pondered it, the light began to dawn. You cannot have one without the other.

You will not have a light to put on a lamp stand or anywhere else if you are not receiving that light from a pure source. If you are not hearing from God, you have nothing worth saying.

Now I’m not talking about divine revelation in the same terms as we would consider scripture divinely revealed. I am talking about the everyday, ordinary way God speaks to us. I’m talking about how we listen. That is a difficult thing to do in these days that are so full of busy-ness and stress, but it is an essential thing, especially for those who would dare to be writers.

I remember a day some time ago when I realized how important it was. The day couldn't have been more perfect. The sky was clear, the sun dancing off the water. The beach slowly filled with parents and children, out to enjoy a day at the beach. After an overnight camp out, my friend and I had brought a few girls from our church's Kids' Club to have a swim and a picnic. We stretched out on the sand and chatted as we watched the children play. Little ones were busy making sand castles. An older pair tossed a frisbee above their heads.

A little red-haired girl caught my attention. She had wandered in front of us a few times, as she dashed from the edge of the lake to her mother, sitting in a lawn chair not far away. I watched as she stood still, her small head bent studiously over something in her hand. She turned and started toward us, stopped and peered at her hand once more, took a few more steps and stopped again. Her progress was slow as this pattern was repeated. As she approached, I could see a moth cupped in her palm. She tilted her hand each time it moved, stopped when it crawled dangerously close to the edge and moved slowly forward when it was secure again. Eventually the little girl reached her parent, holding her hand out for her to admire the precious treasure.

My delight in watching that little girl deepened as I heard God’s voice. “That’s how I carry you, to my Father’s delight.” The depth of Jesus’ love overwhelmed me in that moment.

I know I could have missed His voice that day. I could have been anxiously watching the little ones under my care. I could have had my mind on all the stresses that come with being a pastor’s wife and mother. I could have let all of “life’s worries, riches and pleasures” get in the way. But somehow He broke through. I heard and was blessed and several times I have used that story in written form to illustrate God’s care for us.

We must take time to listen for God’s voice, consider the circumstances in which we have placed ourselves and see to it that we find a place that is conducive to hearing God’s voice. Then we will indeed, have something worth writing about.
*****

To read more of Marcia's work visit her website - www.vinemarc.com