God Speaks

“The sheep follow Him, because they recognize His voice." John 10:4

Do we recognize God's voice?

I think He speaks in different ways, and we will never be able to box God in, much less the way He chooses to communicate with us. One night, as we were driving home from a weekend at the beach, I had this urge to pray. First it was because there was a danger we would run out of gas, and when that danger passed, I still had that strong compulsion to pray. I prayed that angels surround our van, that God would thwart any evil intentions of bad men, that we and my sister's family would reach home safely, that we would not be in any accident. I prayed in tongues. I prayed for persecuted Christians, etc, etc.

Back safely at home, when I was about to fall asleep, my husband Luigi asked me, "Did you have a good sleep?" as he thought I had been dozing in the van while he was driving. "No," I answered, "I was praying almost the whole time."

"Then you heard the loud noise?" 

"I did. I thought a rock hit our van." 

"That was a man with a gun," he said. 

"Whaaat!!" He then told me that there was this SUV that he went ahead of last night. After that, the driver kept trying to squeeze in front of our van but couldn't. He even turned on his flasher. Then, when our vehicles were caught in traffic on a bridge, the man got out and Luigi saw that he had a gun. Then the gun SLIPPED from his hand, and the man scrambled to find it in the dark. When the vehicles started to move, the man ran toward our van and hit it hard with his fist twice!

After Luigi told me what happened, I realized that sometimes God gives us this need to pray for protection. When we do pray, we don't even realize what dangers we avert through prayer. I think God allowed this incident because I had been praying for protection for those being persecuted in the Middle East, and sometimes I think to myself, "Am I helping even a tiny little bit? Maybe this is all useless!" But God showed me that I should persist even if I do not see any results!

Yes God speaks. It doesn't have to be an audible voice, or a whisper. He constantly speaks to us in many different ways. Let us be like sheep who know the voice of our Shepherd, and listen and watch for when He speaks for He will if we but be vigilant and wait.