One thing I absolutely love about walking and reading on a treadmill is that it allows you to do two things at once.
Three things actually.
I also think a lot, like we all do. We all have a million thoughts sprinting across our minds at any given time. But as I walked last night with no particular place to go, I read a book, and I imagined and dreamed, and talked to God about all the doodles of words swirling in my head.
I was talking about how I was (not)surprised when Pastor began to speak about listening to God’s voice at church. And how I knew I was hearing His voice on that treadmill even as I was multitasking.
You see, that was one of the major things I needed when I began my walk with God. I needed with all I had, to hear His voice. And I absolutely loved the huge demonstration Pastor gave on this very subject during his sermon. I just love visuals.
Years ago, I learned quickly that in order to hear God speak to me, I needed to be aware, I needed to shut up, and I needed to actually open my ears in order to hear Him. He spoke to me through songs, other people, and sermons at the time. But once I began to listen for His voice (not audibly but noticeably His nonetheless) is when my faith grew deeper and my walk (with Him and not my treadmill) grew stronger.
You see, He still speaks to me through people, like someone I rarely talk to messaging me a verse I JUST read that morning. Or someone telling me they dreamt the strangest dream about me and had to share.
I still hear Him through songs because He downloads words for me to write down through them.
I still hear Him through sermons because JUST THAT MORNING before church I wrote about my daughter asking to hear God’s voice the night before during our bedtime routine.
You need to know that He speaks in the little and in the obvious.
He is speaking now as I type this, because I picked up my phone to tell you that the book I’m reading-about becoming a writer-says His name a lot, but it also contradicts who I’ve learned God to be. And it makes me feel out of sorts.
So, I felt His nudge to stop reading and to type. So I took a sweaty selfie just to tie in the visual, and to tell you this:
No matter who is speaking His name, even if it’s an award winning author, your Pastor, or your best friend...He speaks more clearly and directly to YOU than through those around you.
He told me that the words I was reading don’t sit right with me for a reason, and that I should trust that. He wants me to always write His full truth and not just say His name because it might catch the eye of a certain audience. He told me to trust myself and that no book on writing will ever develop me as a writer like He can.
He said all this on a Sunday evening, in a hot metal shop, on a tiny treadmill, when I was alone with no music or podcast blaring, while I was reading-because He loves me and doesn’t want a book (other than His own) to sway me.
I write and I share because that’s what God has placed me on this earth to do. I don’t know what that will look like tomorrow or a year from now, but I’m trusting that the promises and the talks we have shared will come to pass. Whether those talks are at an altar or on a treadmill. And that although I was physically walking with no real directional change at that moment, that my Spirit made strides in the process of stopping, listening, and obeying His voice.
He speaks to us all differently. In ways that we will understand and incline our ears to. He can speak to you through your spouse, your kids, your Pastor, a blog or even while you're driving to work...so listen, He knows what you need.
But more than anything out there, He will speak to you through His mighty word. And that’s what I’ve learned the most about His voice. To pick up His book, His guide, His saving grace and read it. And I promise you, that God will speak directly to you through it. His word is alive. It breathes and speaks and moves.
If you want to hear His voice, you should read it.
I promise God speaks to you, friend.
Have you been quiet and still enough lately to hear Him?
