Friday, December 14, 2012

A God Who Speaks

You have permission to speak for yourself.
Acts 26:1
The Christmas Plant on the right is indigenous to Chiang Mai. It is usually green throughout the year. When the weather becomes cool and it gets closer to Christmas, the plant turns white. Upon closer inspection, it hugely resembles the red poinsettias.

Today, my Thai teacher asked me how I knew how much to give when I read her my written Thai story about giving. It’s the same story that was posted two weeks ago. In the past, my former Thai teacher and I got it translated in Thai so I could read it to different unsuspecting Buddhist people who spoke the language. At the time, I thought it was great to practice my reading and spoken Thai while sharing my God stories. I still do! I hope to continue to be able to do this in the future. As my language teacher said repeatedly, it is so encouraging to see how God works in our lives. It sure is!

In answer to the question posed, I talked to her about how we’re made up of three parts: spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes 5:23). Our physical body is the mass that gets left behind when our spirit leaves us when we pass away. Our soul (or mind) is that part of us that isn’t the body or the spirit. =) I think I’ll leave it there so as not to get into a theological entangle or explanation that could take up half the post.

I explained to her that I didn’t hear anything audible. There was no booming voice nor soft whisper that said P2,000. I just knew it was the amount like a thought that I didn’t think up. It wasn’t like I was there choosing a number from one to infinity. All of a sudden, I knew it was 2,000! Because I was praying and seeking God to know how much to give, the Holy Spirit communicated with my spirit and gave the answer. My mental mind eventually caught up and received the same answer as my spirit communicated it to me. I hope that made sense! =)

The manger scene on the left is a rare sight in Thailand. It's displayed in the playground of the school I teach at.

We have a God who speaks and He wants us to hear Him. The more time we spend with Papa God, the easier it becomes to hear Him. We are His sheep and we do know His voice. We can recognize Him. Sometimes, He's there when someone says something and their words resonate so much within us. Sometimes, we can’t even explain why we are so touched by what we hear; we just begin to tear up (even with music!). It's Him! Sometimes, we just know that what the person in front of us is saying is what God wants us to hear. We feel encouraged, full of hope, and know His peace. We feel affirmed and loved. We seem to bubble from within and become exhilarated by His joy. =) Ahh, what a wonderful God we have.

And I do want to add that it wasn’t always like this for me. There was a time (close to 20 years ago) when I couldn’t hear God. I didn’t know how to! Back then, there was a major change in my life that greatly affected how my extended family would relate with me and I wanted God to affirm that I was on the right track in what I needed to tell them. I locked myself in a room with my Bible and read and prayed for hours to know what to do. Finally, they were about to arrive and yet I still didn’t know what to do. Should I say what I felt God wanted me to do? How could I be sure? What if I was wrong in hearing Him? “God, please!” I implored. “Help me!” Nothing, there was only silence.

In desperation, I closed my eyes tightly and flipped my Bible to a different page. I prayed under my breath and asked God to please show me what to do. I took my fore finger and still with eyes closed, made it land on a section in the Bible. It landed on the first verse quoted above and it was the perfect word for me. My family all knew how I grew up (in verse 4). My Lord was giving me permission to speak. Yes! =) And speak, I did!

The Lord will do that for you, too. He will answer you. If you seek Him, you will find Him. Go ahead and try. Don’t give up until you hear because He will speak. He is a God who speaks.

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