“I heard Him! He whispered to me! He said that I’m a dew drop of sunshine!” This from a precious little one in our VBS Discovery Station. “Me too! He said that I’m beautiful!” “He told me that I’m a victorious warrior!” Others joined in sharing what they’d heard from the Holy Spirit during our listening moments. What a delight it was for me to see their hearts open to the loving words of their Heavenly Father!
I had been teaching the children that we can have confidence in who God says we are only if we know what He says about us! First, we looked at what the Word of God tells us. We are loved with an everlasting love! We are made wonderfully in the image of God! In Jesus, we are set free, healed, and victorious! All powerful truths. Yet there is so much more! Our Father wants us to spend time with Him, sharing our hearts and listening for His voice. How amazing to begin developing the skill of knowing His voice at a young age! (John 10:3, 14:6)
It was recently that I was encouraged to do just what I had asked the children to do… sit and listen, asking God to tell me how He sees me. Have you ever tried that? I have had experiences with hearing the Lord, so I wasn’t really concerned that He wouldn’t speak, but I was a bit nervous about what I was going to hear. I wasn’t prepared for how quickly I would hear! It’s like He’d been sitting on the edge of His seat waiting for me to ask! I grabbed a pen & paper and began writing down His words of life and love for me. I felt so treasured and valued as He poured His love over me like only a Daddy can!
God longs for us to sit up and take notice of His thoughts written across all creation! He has made His love abundantly clear through the plan of redemption and He inspired Biblical writers to take note of His handiwork. Yet, there is more! Just as we have daily conversations with those we love, our Heavenly Dad has words of life for us each day that take our understanding of Him and His love for us to new levels. Paul said it this way in Ephesians 1:
17” I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know Him through your deepening intimacy with Him. 18 I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of His calling—that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that He finds in us, His holy ones! 19 I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith.” tPt
During my lesson, one of the kids asked me, “How do you know that it is God speaking?” Don’t we all wonder that at times? “Lord, is that you?” “How do I know He is speaking and it’s not just my thoughts?” Whenever God speaks, He is faithful to His character. He will not ask us to be or do anything that contradicts who He is or His Word (Hebrews 13:8). God’s voice will not discourage, condemn, or tempt us (John 3:17, James 1:13). God’s whispers will not devalue you and I but rather will speak life into our spirits (John 6:63)!1
When God whispers into our hearts and spirits, His desire is to draw us into deeper relationship with Him! Can you feel the Father’s hunger to spend time with you? He tells us to seek Him and we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). He whispers your name in the chaos of life. He wants to encourage you and I to see ourselves as He sees us—as He created us to be! When we get a revelation of who He is and who we are to Him, we develop the deepening intimacy with Him that enables us to act and react from a place of perfect love instead of a place of ignorance, hurt, fear, or desperation.
He calls to us through His handiwork: in the vibrant sunset, across a shimmering rainbow, on the wings of a butterfly, and in the arms of a loved one. But He also waits for our ears to tune in to His heart. He whispers truth and life to our spirits. Will you pause and listen? Ask your Heavenly Dad to tell you how He sees you! Embrace the truths He drops into your heart and then combine them with truths from His Word. Write them down! Declare those truths! Your thinking patterns will be transformed into His as you renew your mind with the power of His Words, both written and revealed! (See Romans 12:2, I Corinthians 2:16)
Live Loved, because you truly are!
1 To learn more about listening to the right voice, read this blog post by Kris Vallotton.