How God Speaks to Me

I was asked to give a testimony about the importance of the WORD at a ladies retreat. Years ago, I wrote my testimony about salvation, and I’ve shared it publicly. But, I had never thought about my testimony regarding the importance of the WORD. I’m glad I was called upon to do it.

I was brought up in Church. I was taught from childhood that the Bible is the method by which God chose to reveal Himself to us in a meaningful way – a way that we can understand, so that we can come to know Him on a deeper and more intimate level after we are saved.

I was also taught that everything we need to know about salvation, and our spiritual walk is covered in the Bible. His WORD gives us instructions about how we are to conduct ourselves in every aspect of our life – through childhood, in marriage, as parents, in business, as members of society, and as His disciples. The answers to all of life’s important questions, and guidance for all of the decisions we face are in the Bible.

I have always believed these things.

I was saved when I was 14 years old, and for the next 25, or so, years my biggest spiritual dilemma was how to find the answers to my life’s important questions. As you know, there is no book in the Bible named “The Book of Alice” containing the answers to my specific questions and life decisions. Out of 66 books, 1,189 chapters, 783,131 total words, written in a time when life was very different from today, how was I supposed to find the answer to any question or decision that I was facing in a timely manner?

When I posed that question to my Pastor at the time, he told me that is why it is so important to spend time everyday prayerfully reading and studying God’s WORD. The more time I spend in the WORD the better I will understand it, and the Holy Spirit will reveal the answers to me.

He was absolutely right. I just wish it hadn’t taken me so long to “get it”.

During most of that 25 or so years I did not usually have a morning quiet time. My quiet times came in spurts whenever it weighed heavy on me because I knew I was supposed to. The main reason was because all I got out of reading my Bible was what was printed on the page in front of me, which frequently did not easily relate to my day-to-day life. However, not spending time alone with God, reading His WORD, on a daily basis was the biggest mistake of my life. It was during that time that I made some major decisions that changed the course of my life for the worse.

When God speaks to me personally, it is by the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit within me. It is as a thought that can easily be ignored or misunderstood if I’m not attuned to God.

Of course, I prayed for God’s guidance when I was making those decisions. I considered the pros and cons of my options, and made what I believed were the wisest choices. Looking back, I clearly remember, each time, the moment the Holy Spirit gave me direction. Unfortunately, I didn’t recognize it as such because I was not attuned to God. In some cases, I dismissed it completely, in others I perceived to be my own thought of a possible option, which I eliminated during my evaluation of all of my options.

I made two other mistakes that go hand-in-hand with each other. I dismissed the importance of memorizing scripture, and I failed to consider the distinction between reading and studying. Memorizing scripture involves repetition – repeatedly reading it, writing it, and saying it; it requires focus. Studying requires searching the scriptures, contemplation and reflection. Both require time in addition to reading, which requires planning and commitment. But I have found memorizing and studying to be the keys by which the Holy Spirit unlocks the deeper meanings of the scriptures, and guides me to the answers I’m seeking.

In the first issue of the Church’s newsletter I wrote about how in the mid-1990’s I asked God to teach me the way He taught George Muller and countless others in the past when there were no seminaries and Bible colleges. Yes, I have gained a deeper understanding of many passages and that understanding has impacted my Christian walk. But the greatest benefit of my time spent with God studying the WORD is how much better I know Him and how much stronger my relationship with Him has become.

As I came to know Him better and I grew closer to Him my perspective about things changed. It became easier for me to see things from His perspective. For example, certain irritating people stopped being an irritation to me; instead I realized that they were hurting, or struggling and needed forgiveness, prayers, and compassion.

Here’s another, more specific example of how my perspective changed. On February 6, 2001 our phone rang at 6:30 AM. My husband answered it. At our house calls at odd hours are typically not good news. So, I was standing nearby waiting to find out who called and the reason. He said, “That was my boss. The company is closing the office here and letting everyone go effective on the 22^nd. My immediate reaction was, “Praise the Lord!”

He looked very confused and asked, “Why?” I said, “Honey, don’t you see? God is working in our life. I can hardly wait to see where He’s leading us!” I was excited about a new adventure with God. There was a time when my immediate reaction would’ve been far from “Praise the Lord!”

From the time I was saved, before I started really spending time with God and really studying His WORD, I would not have hesitated to say that I trusted God completely; and I did. But, it isn’t hard to trust Him completely when there isn’t much you need to trust Him for. I am so glad that my relationship with Him developed so much deeper than it was back then, before my husband became disabled; before I had an outpatient surgery that went horribly wrong requiring months in the hospital, 9 additional surgeries and a four-year recovery period; before my son became disabled; before my husband died and within weeks I broke both arms; and before I needed to take care of my Mother until she died; all within a 10-year period, and all the while struggling financially. God kept me at peace and carried me through all of that.

A close friend once commented, “With all you’ve been through, I’ve never seen you without a smile on your face.” God is the reason for that. That’s not to say that I never cried or grieved; of course, I did. But even with all that I was going through, my world was fine because it was all in God’s hands.

Here’s an example of getting an answer to a question relevant to real life today that also gives us a glimpse of God. In our adult Sunday School class, someone brought up the question of whether divorce is a sin in cases of abuse when there has been no infidelity. Everyone agreed that the Bible is clear that the only reason for divorce that is acceptable to God is infidelity. No one, myself included, wanted to say that divorce is okay in cases of abuse, but no one wanted to say that a person being abused by their spouse should remain in the marriage, either. The question lingered in the back of my mind for days, until finally, during my quiet time one morning I got the answer.

 When God gave Moses the 10 Commandments He said, “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” We all know it’s a sin to lie. He didn’t say one word about exceptions for extenuating circumstances. But, Rahab lied at Jericho and God blessed her for it; so much so that she is in the ancestral lineage of Christ, because her lie was in the best interest of His people.

With God the best interest of His people is of paramount importance. The ultimate proof of that is the fact that He sacrificed His Son to redeem us.

When a believer divorces an abusive spouse, in the absence of infidelity, it is a sin. However, their sin has already been forgiven. While it is not generally acceptable to God for believers to go around sinning because their sins have all been forgiven, in this case, as with Rahab’s lie, the sin is in the best interest of His child. He does not have a problem with it.

If the person is not a believer, it really doesn’t matter because God has a much bigger problem with them than that.

Since we know by his own admission that the Apostle Paul didn’t always get it right, you know that I certainly don’t. I’m not trying to suggest otherwise. My point is that the WORD is the root of my spiritual growth. It is God’s primary means of communicating with me, and it’s what enables me to be sensitive to that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit within me. I would say that is the importance of the WORD.