For God does speak, now one way, now another,
though no one
perceives it. Job 33:14
The sweet voice of the Lord! It is so very precious! He speaks to His children. At times, we expect Him to speak to us, sometimes He does and sometimes He remains silent. Often, He speaks to us when we least expect it.
Possibly this explains Isaiah 55:8 (NIV) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
From Adam in the book of Genesis and now to us, He speaks to His people in a variety of ways. He speaks to us through His Word, our circumstances. He speaks to us in
prayer, through dreams and visions. He speaks to us when we worship Him. He
speaks to us when we enjoy His beautiful nature. He speaks to us through our
spirit and often through a person. Most
of the time this person is unaware that the words they spoke to us were an
answer or a specific direction from the Lord. At other times, God speaks to us
through an inanimate object such as a poster or even a billboard.
In
1 Kings 19:12 God spoke to Elijah, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but
by a gentle whisper. In my walk with the Lord, I find that He has spoken
to me in various ways because of various circumstances or situations.
God is very versatile. He also knows us so well. He knows that speaking to us like thunder probably would not work with many of His children, although it has been known to work for some of us.
In Kings 19:11-12 the Lord said: “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” It is less important how God speaks to us; what is important is that when He does speak we need to obey.
Roger had a very successful accounting firm and financially we were doing very well. But financial stability is not the answer to everything. One day in 1987 Roger told me in these exact words: “I do not want to continue to push a pencil just to make another buck (dollar). We began to pray for the Lord to open a door for us, so we could serve in His kingdom. But we were not specific, so this became a dangerous prayer.
Meanwhile while we waited for the Lord to open a ministry door for us, we continued to work at his accounting firm. We lived in a beautiful home on a 25-acre lot in Carp. As the months went by it became a challenge to keep up with all the maintenance necessary to keep everything up and running. Now looking back, I realize that the Lord was slowly preparing us for our calling. The first test was to give up our big house in the country. We both agreed that were ready to downsize, except that in our minds, we were only going back to live in the city.
In
the spring of 1989, we started to look for a new home. We visited
several new developments. Our hearts had settled on a house in a fairly new development in
Centerpointe in the west end of Ottawa. Although our house in Carp had been on the
market for a few months, we had not attracted any serious buyers. Therefore, we
delayed going forward with the purchase of a new house.
On July 11th, we were going to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Some dear friends had invited us and another couple to their home for a delicious celebration dinner. A few days later, we were scheduled to leave for California and Tijuana. Our daughter was on a mission trip in Tijuana, and we were concerned because at the time she had health issues. We were really going to California/Tijuana to make sure she was coming home.
Both of these couples were very precious friends of ours and we always enjoyed spending time with them. After another great meal and a good time of fellowship, we left to go back home. Roger was driving on Woodroffe Avenue heading towards the Queensway. At the corner of Woodroffe Avenue and Maitland Avenue, he stopped at the red light. This was also the main entrance to the new subdivision of Centerpointe.
Because I thought we might live there one day, I automatically looked at the big Centerpointe advertising billboard on the left side of the road. As I looked at the sign, I burst into tears. Roger looked at me in complete dismay because just a few minutes earlier I was happy as a lark and chatting away as usual. He certainly wanted to know why this drastic change of emotion. “What is wrong”, he asked me. I said: “Roger, nothing is wrong but as I was looking at the big billboard at the entrance to Centrepointe, the Lord told me we would never live there.
He gently squeezed my hand, then put both hands back on the steering wheel and we drove home in complete silence. We absolutely had no glue what “we would never live there” meant. Deep down in our hearts, both of us realized that the Lord had a different plan for our lives than moving into a new house in Centerpointe. But at that time His plan had not yet been revealed to us.
We did not talk about this billboard again. This was certainly the beginning of our journey to the mission field, although neither of us realized what was going to happen during our trip to San Diego & Tijuana. God knew it, but at the time, we certainly had no clue.
Every time I drive by the area of Centerpointe, I always remember the Lord telling me that we would never live there, and we never did. Instead, His plan for us was the shanty towns of Tijuana. Certainly, a far different setting that a house in the west end of the city. For us, God did not speak to us through a wind or a whisper, He spoke to us through a billboard!
How is He speaking to you?
Let me conclude by quoting Jeremiah 29:11:“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Denise
Please note: The names of our friends are not noted to respect their privacy. Also, the house in this picture only resembles the house we had looked at in Centerpointe.
