God Speaks

How do children come up with the questions they ask? Do they have brainstorming sessions each morning before they come into my room? Does the cat put them up to it?


They ask all these crazy questions that I have no idea how to answer. And it's not necessarily because I don't know the answer. Most of the time I do know the answer, but I have no idea how simplify it for a four-year-old.


My daughter Ahava is the queen of questions. Everything from "what's a noodle made of?" to "What's a rib?" to "Why?" "Why?" I hate that question. She asks it every day, multiple times a day, usually after I say "No."


But the best question she's ever asked came just after I tucked her into bed a few weeks ago. "Mommy, can people hear God?"


I thought about her answer, about how so many people would respond. Then I thought about the simple truth. And I smiled.


"Yes."


"Have you heard God?"


Again, the truth was so easy this time. "Yes, I have. Many times."


She frowned. "I've never ever heard God. I'll never hear God, Mommy!"


"Sure you will. But first you have to learn what He sounds like."


"How do I do that?"


"Read the Bible a whole lot. God wrote the Bible. It's what He said. And pray all the time. Every time you think about it. And when you pray, spend time being really quiet and not talking too, and eventually you'll be able to hear Him."


Now some will think that statement is shocking, maybe a little controversial, but I don't. It's the truth. I've heard God many times. He's my Father. He still speaks to His children, if we'll listen. I recognize His voice because I know Him well enough to know what He would say as opposed to what He wouldn't. Most of the time. How? Because I've spent time in prayer with Him, not just with a laundry list of prayer requests. I've spent time talking to Him, listening to Him. I know His heart because He spilled it out on a thousand pages. When I submerse myself in His written word, it's easy to recognize His voice.


God speaks. Yes, I can hear Him. When I listen. When I get still before Him, when I know that He is God.


How about you? Are you listening?