“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13, NASB).

Our friend, Angie, shared this story as she was helping my wife recover from brain surgery: “For no reason I could fathom, I woke up five straight days thinking about Becky. At night when I went to bed, her face would come to mind. Finally, I called and asked her, ‘I can’t take it anymore. What’s up?’ There was dead silence. I spoke again, ‘I know there is something wrong.’ Silence again. Then she finally said, ‘You’re right. I have a brain tumor.’”

Some folks would call this parapsychology. I would say this was God’s Spirit speaking with purpose into Angie’s life. Becky and Angie both love the Lord, and Becky needed her friend to share in her struggle. Angie heard, and Angie came.

God speaks to us in so many ways: through incidents like this, through dreams, through visions, through an unexpected word from a friend, through a formal Sunday sermon, through a quiet morning Bible passage. Such speaking of God’s Spirit comes with purpose. It always comes so we will act, like Angie coming to Becky’s side.

We don’t always move to action when the Holy Spirit speaks. We may not move because we do not hear. We may not hear because we do not listen. We may not hear because sin plugs our ears. Or we may hear well enough and still not move because we just won’t obey.

Are we walking close enough to God each day to hear His whisper?

Are we leaning expectantly toward His voice with each daily encounter?

Do we intentionally ask our Lord, “Let me see you. Let me hear you,” throughout our days?

And when we hear, are we faithful like Angie to move where He tells us to go?

Dear God,

Please help me listen and obey.

Amen