My daughter was going through some tough circumstances, and, incidentally, had lost her cell phone over the weekend, leaving her with greatly limited means of connecting with friends as she usually did. After frantically searching for it the day before, I had told her I really felt there was a reason it was missing, and that I thought we should just stop looking for it and let it go; God would bring it back if and when the time was right. As we left church Sunday morning, her whole body looked downcast, and I asked her what she wanted to do. She said she felt like she needed to read her Bible, but after thinking about it a few minutes, asked if we could go get coffee first. We were having a great conversation, but we suddenly and abruptly had to head home. As we were driving home, she said she wasn’t sure where she should start reading, and I told her she should pray about it; I threw out a suggestion, but told her it was only that – a suggestion, a possibility.
When we got home, she settled in with God’s Word, and, after a bit, she came in to my room all excited and shared with me some things she had – not coincidentally – come across as she started to read; things that seemed to speak directly to her situation. (None of which had anything to do with my helpful and well-intentioned suggestion, by the way!).
However, she had been interrupted by a text from a friend over the computer (since her cell phone was missing), and her friend wanted to know if she could get together. She clearly wanted to go, and this was a Christian friend she thought she could reach out to … but she felt torn; was it possible God was providing a friend for her to confide in? Or was it possible this was a well-disguised distraction?
We talked it over; what was going through her heart and mind? The more we talked, the more clear I felt about it; God wants us to turn to Him. To rely on Him. I shared with her some of my own experiences over the years; how God wanted me to have good relationships in my life – a husband, who was a fantastic partner, a sister, who was a loyal confidante, and great Christian friends, who were there to support, guide, and encourage me – however, they cannot be God to me. If I immediately call my spouse, my sister, or my friend when I have a problem or a praise, they have become a stronghold to me. God wants me to seek Him first. If He wants me to have a conversation with someone else, He will create the opportunity, or He will make it clear to me that He wants me to arrange it. But He wants to be my stronghold – the One I run to in times of trouble.
She told her friend she was in the middle of something, and couldn’t get together right now. After a half hour or so, I had to go into her room. Her demeanor was completely different; her circumstances had not changed, but something had changed. She had a glow about her.
“He spoke to me,” she said, very decisively.
She has been a Christian for several years, and she has read more of the Bible than many Christians have in their lifetimes. But God spoke to her! God had personally reached down from heaven and spoken to her!
There is nothing like it. There is nothing that compares to knowing that the God of the Universe sees you, knows you, and desires to have a personal, 2-way conversation with you. It will change your life forever.
“Aren’t you glad you didn’t go with your friend?” I asked.
The weight of the seemingly insignificant decision she had made to stay home hit her and she gasped, “I almost missed it! … I almost missed it.”
© I Lift My Voice, 2015.