“So is My word that goes out from My mouth. It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11

I Heard Him

I learned an important lesson during the time of my surgery that I thought I’d share with you. All my life I’ve been taught that our walk with the Lord is a relationship. In that relationship, we talk with Him and He talks with us. He speaks to us in our mind and our heart, through the Word, and through people around us. I find He often speaks to me through His creation. But the beauty is–He speaks to us!

When my surgeon first examined me, he said, “There’s a spot here.” It was such a shock after being given the “all clear” from the PET scan. It was, indeed, like a whiplash. As soon as I had a few minutes alone, I went to the Lord in prayer. I asked Him to help me understand, to give me His perspective. I felt very clearly that He spoke into my heart, “It’s nothing. You’re fine. It’s okay.”

That was encouraging until a couple days later when I did the CT scan and got the results that there was a tumor there. I immediately thought that my thinking the Lord had spoken to me must have just been wishful thinking on my part.

My response to all this was to give it all to the Lord, and affirm that I trust Him. Whatever was ahead, I knew He would help me. I spoke to Him through each and every day, and many times in the night. “I trust you, Lord! I keep my eyes on You.”

Fast forward to after the surgery, and the surgeon comes to tell me, “There was nothing there—just scar tissue and adhesions. You’re fine.” You can imagine my response. As soon as I finished thanking the Lord, I realized I HAD heard Him speak into my heart these words! I just “assumed” I had heard wrong and that it was wishful thinking.

God and I had a long talk! I told Him I was sorry that I hadn’t held onto what I felt He had said to me. Could I have been wrong? Yes, of course! But what I realized is that I shouldn’t so quickly abandon what I felt He’d said. I should have simply told Him that I thought He said that to me, but that I would trust Him whatever the outcome.

It’s been an important lesson for me to learn, and a good reminder of some of the principles of hearing the voice of God. Hearing God speak into our hearts is not some magic formula. As I said, it comes out of our walk with Him, our relationship with Him. I’ve heard Him speak into my heart since I was a young girl. My earliest memories of that are from when I was 4 or 5 years old. I’ve loved hearing His voice all my life. His voice is precious. I couldn’t have made it for my 69 years of life without hearing His voice of love, affirmation, correction, direction—how wonderful it has been to hear Him speak into my heart.

I won’t be so quick to discard what I think He’s said in the future – regardless of what circumstances are saying. There are some other things that I think He’s spoken to my heart. I’m going to hold on to them until He shows otherwise.

The Bible is filled with verses about God speaking to us.  I’m so grateful for His wonderful voice.  It is more precious than gold.

Someone sent me this photo.  It’s how I’ve been picturing myself in His care in recent days. I’m staying tucked in close to “Aslan.”

“Father, don’t let us miss Your voice. Thank You for speaking to us. Amen.”