Listen for God’s Whisper

I loved the last car I owned. I had it for about 15 years, and I was never going to get rid of it, or so I thought. Then one day, the inevitable happened, and the mechanic told me it was not worth putting money into the car anymore.

Eventually, I bought a new car. I recall that on the day when I drove the car home, I began a one-sided conversation with God. I was doing all the talking. It went something like this: God, what am I doing? Should I have gotten this car? Did I make a mis­take? How am I going to pay for it?

In our Christian experience, we know that we should trust God (Proverbs 3:5, 6), but there are times when we wonder whether or not we are doing the right thing. After that one-sided monologue to God, I did not give my car adventure another thought.

The next morning, right in the mid­dle of my devotional reading, I heard the words, “I will show you how to pay for the car.” I realized that God was responding to the questions I posed to Him the day before. Perhaps He had decided to let me get it all out and then wait until morning before saying a word. It was not a lot of words either, just a simple statement, “I will show you how to pay for the car.” Alright then! Thinking that was the end of it, I continued my devotion.

During my prayer time, right in the middle of my prayer, that same voice interrupted me saying, “Here is how you pay for the car.” At that moment, I could visualize it. It was so clear to me that I remember thinking, Why did I not see that before? The answer was right in front of me all the time. It seems my mind was so cluttered with other things that I could not see clearly the path forward in that situ­ation. That morning, I thanked God for whispering to me what I needed to hear. I followed through with what God had revealed to me and, eventu­ally, I met my obligations of paying for the car.

In this time of uncertainty, some of us are challenged with many issues. We have so many unanswered ques­tions, and a lot of things do not make sense. Some people are grieving the loss of a loved one or a friend. Others are recovering from the impact of the coronavirus on their physical systems. Still others have either been furloughed, are unemployed, or have lost their homes; and the list goes on and on. In the twinkling of an eye (it seems), life, as we knew it, changed. When we can’t see our way clear through the challenges, sometimes we begin to doubt.

In all of this uncertainty, we may need to be still and listen for God’s voice and let His promises sustain us. Let’s start with, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanks­giving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which tran­scends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”—Philippians 4:6, 7, NIV.

Then perhaps we need to remind ourselves of 2 Chronicles 20:17, NKJV, “You will not need to fight in this bat­tle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.”
And finally, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand”—Isaiah 41:10, NKJV.

Let us not lose ourselves in the situ­ations that weigh us down and forget to listen for God’s whisper with the answer to all of our needs. He promis­es to be with us, saying, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”—Hebrews 13:5, NKJV.