If I were to ask whether you believe God still speaks to us today, how would you respond? I would imagine it would depend upon your own experiences with God (and maybe what your church believes, if you attend). But, have you ever really thought whether God would speak to you personally? Most pastors and theologian might comment to the question by suggesting that God does in fact speak to us, just that it is limited to what is written in the Bible. Others might answer by suggesting that believers who have the Holy Spirit within, hear, or are impressed within their subconscious with an idea. usually the impression is in regard to what one should or shouldn’t do, with the Holy Spirit acting as a holy umpire if you will.
In my own experience, I would answer yes, God does speak and agree with the two examples from above, but I also have found that God speaks through visual aids. Often, He puts me in situations in which I am acutely aware of my surroundings, that is He seems to point out something He is trying to show me and teach me. Let me explain. Recently I have found myself sitting right behind a group of people in church, who if I can be real honest, I probably would have dismissed because of their age range. I am not of that age, so yeah, whatever you want to label it, I have a bias against. No, I’m not going to tell you what age group, but as I watched them sit down in front of me, I expected them to act in church the way I THOUGHT, they would act. But just as I was feeling my smug self rising up, they did something remarkable, they didn’t do as I had expected, but instead worshipped God as I have never seen before.
Ok, please don’t close this out and please keep reading. My point is that God has a way to speak to me that convicts and encourages by showing me just what I need to see and the Holy Spirit reminds me that it is God speaking to me, trying to get my attention, all the while exposing the bad attitude I have toward my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please don’t tell me you have never had this happen, we all bring stereotypes and biases into worship. We are all works in progress.
Later, in the same week I found myself face to face with a manager of a business I had interviewed with a year before. I was offered a job with the business, but there was something about this particular manager, that raised some doubts about the position, so I declined. Now, face to face once again, under different circumstances, I found this person was not anything like I had believed before, and was actually a nice person. Once again the Holy Spirit reminded me how I had quickly judged the company by its manager, and I had been wrong. My attitude needed a check. I realized in that week, God had been showing me and telling me that my heart needed a tuneup. So, YES! I believe God does speak to us today. He desires for us to grow up in Him and be transformed into the likeness of Christ. We just need to listen and watch. What is He trying to show you and tell you today? God Bless, Nancy
Moving Forward 