Estimated reading time: 5 minutes:-)
I want to tell you a story.
A few days ago, I didn’t feel very beautiful.
I think we all have days we feel gross. Often, I’m caught in a cycle of comparing myself to others and feeling awful about how I look as a result. My eyebrows are patchy. My legs aren’t toned. And why on God’s green earth did a zit have to appear there?
Anyway, I was driving to a house I was house-sitting. I was driving up Crowfoot and the sun was setting. If you’ve driven on Crowfoot you know it’s one of the most beautiful ways to get to Castle Rock, which makes it even more infuriating how many houses they’re building along the road. But that’s a different topic.
On Crowfoot, you climb this hill and crest a plateau, and the view on top is just incredible. And it was at this moment, as I crested the hill, that I decided to be honest.
“God, I don’t feel very beautiful right now,” I said.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to talk with God. When I’m driving, most of the time I just listen to music (and sing along at the top of my lungs to literally everything like a whacko). I don’t like silence.
But I realized in the last few days that sitting in silence and listening for God is one of the best ways I could spend my time.
One thing that bothers me is when Christians claim God is done speaking. That he doesn’t talk to us anymore and you shouldn’t expect to hear his voice. I think that’s a bunch of bologna.
Last night, my best friend and I were babysitting and after the kids went to bed, we talked about God speaking. She told me she listened to a sermon recently that talked about our relationship with God. God deeply desires a relationship with us, and not just a ‘king and servant’ relationship. He wants a ‘father and daughter’ relationship, a ‘friend and friend’ relationship, a ‘lover and lover’ relationship. So how do we navigate that relationship? How do we communicate with God?
Obviously, God speaks to us through His word. That’s one we all know. And that form of connection is super important and real. But today I wanted to focus on a different way we can commune with God: by talking with Him.
A lot of people say they can’t hear God’s voice. I must say, I’ve never head an audible voice from God. But when God speaks, I think He has His own way, a way I can’t exactly describe as well as I’d like.
The Bible describes God’s presence in many ways, but one way that has stuck with me comes from 1 Kings 19:11-12.
“The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
A gentle whisper. I think that’s the sort of way God speaks sometimes.
But how do we hear this gentle whisper?
Let’s be honest, it’s hard talking to someone who won’t talk back. I know a lot of people who are convinced God won’t speak to them, so they don’t talk with God as a result. It’s not easy having a relationship with someone who doesn’t respond.
The Bible also talks about God’s sheep knowing his voice.
John 10:3-5 says, “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”
When my dad comes to a soccer game and joins a full crowd cheering for both sides of the game, I can pick his voice out of all the others because I know my dad’s voice. And how do I know my dad’s voice? By spending time with him, living with him every day.
I think this is a way we can learn to hear God’s voice. By spending time with God, we can learn what His voice sounds like.
I never finished my story about driving up Crowfoot. But that night, I decided to pour my heart out to God instead of singing along to music. I decided to be honest with God about how I was feeling.
“I just wish I had someone, a boyfriend or something, who could tell me I was beautiful on days like these,” I told God.
“But Annabelle, you already do,” God said.
And there’s something about God’s voice that just brings me to my knees and makes me cry. Because then, as God kept speaking, I started to cry.
“I think you’re beautiful. I created the mountains, the oceans, the stars. And I think you’re beautiful, Annabelle.”
God says things I would never say to myself. Things I’m often too busy to stop and listen for. Things I miss because I’m blasting music or letting my own thoughts run rampant in my mind. But when God speaks, you know it.
Sit in silence with God. Listen for His voice. Ask him to talk with you. Sometimes, God is silent. Sometimes, we don’t quiet our hearts enough to listen for Him. But God is not done speaking, and God wants a relationship with you so badly. Spend time with Him, beloved. Because He truly loves you.
Listen to this song called “Hey Jesus” by Elyssa Smith. I think it captures what it feels like to hear God’s voice really well:-)