Discovering God's Love
I had been a Christian for a few years and I couldn’t understand how other people knew God was talking to them. He never talked to me and I was feeling like He didn’t love me.
I was thirty when I went to YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Discipleship Training School in the Los Angeles area. I had been there about a month when one day we were given an assignment to go off by ourselves and talk to God. I was to ask Him to tell me how much I meant to Him. My first thought was, “Oh sure, God isn’t going to talk to me.”
I was wandering around outside for awhile then finally, reluctantly said, “Okay God, I’m supposed to ask You, ‘How much do I mean to you?’” Just as I asked that question, I bent down to pick up a tiny flower that was on the ground. (It was sweet alyssum, a ground cover that grows wild in Southern California. It has sprigs of tiny white or purple flowers with petals about the size of a flat pin head.)
Just as I picked up that sprig of flowers, God spoke loud and clear to me. I knew it was God because He pushed every other thought out of my mind and was very direct and said something I would never say to myself. He said, “Just as I would even think to create something that small is how much I care about every detail of your life.” I was blown away! God spoke to me!
Many years have passed and I have since worked through the things that kept me from hearing God’s voice in the early years. Now I have grown in my relationship with God and He speaks to me quite often. Yet that first time is the most meaningful to me and I will always remember it clearly.
God wants to speak to each of us. Communication goes both ways with God as much as with anyone. How often, when you finish praying or reading your Bible, do you wait in silence for God to speak? I assure you that He longs to tell you of His love for you in ways that no one else can explain to you. The only ‘requirement’ is to be right with Him. Confess sin, forgive others, and humble yourself. Tell God you are ready to listen. When your heart is pure toward God, He will not allow the enemy to interfere. He has many ways of speaking and He will communicate in the way that you will hear
I was thirty when I went to YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Discipleship Training School in the Los Angeles area. I had been there about a month when one day we were given an assignment to go off by ourselves and talk to God. I was to ask Him to tell me how much I meant to Him. My first thought was, “Oh sure, God isn’t going to talk to me.”
I was wandering around outside for awhile then finally, reluctantly said, “Okay God, I’m supposed to ask You, ‘How much do I mean to you?’” Just as I asked that question, I bent down to pick up a tiny flower that was on the ground. (It was sweet alyssum, a ground cover that grows wild in Southern California. It has sprigs of tiny white or purple flowers with petals about the size of a flat pin head.)
Just as I picked up that sprig of flowers, God spoke loud and clear to me. I knew it was God because He pushed every other thought out of my mind and was very direct and said something I would never say to myself. He said, “Just as I would even think to create something that small is how much I care about every detail of your life.” I was blown away! God spoke to me!
Many years have passed and I have since worked through the things that kept me from hearing God’s voice in the early years. Now I have grown in my relationship with God and He speaks to me quite often. Yet that first time is the most meaningful to me and I will always remember it clearly.
God wants to speak to each of us. Communication goes both ways with God as much as with anyone. How often, when you finish praying or reading your Bible, do you wait in silence for God to speak? I assure you that He longs to tell you of His love for you in ways that no one else can explain to you. The only ‘requirement’ is to be right with Him. Confess sin, forgive others, and humble yourself. Tell God you are ready to listen. When your heart is pure toward God, He will not allow the enemy to interfere. He has many ways of speaking and He will communicate in the way that you will hear