31 Days of Hindsight: Day 14

31 Days of Hindsight: Hello Day 14!!!

As summer 2016 was approaching, my theme song became Pieces by Steffany Gretzinger . My journal is covered in the lyrics and my social media reflected the dance Jesus and I were taking together.

*** Check out the post below for more on what this song meant to me. I believe it will whisper to your heart as well!

Pieces: HIS Love Is Proud To Be Seen With You

God’s Word and music lyrics are usually how God chooses to speak with me. I pray to stay open to whatever HE has in mind, because I sure don’t want to miss HIM in nature or unexpected, divine encounters or anything “super”natural HE chooses to entrust me with. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt HE is speaking all the time and HE wants me, and you, to lean in and listen.

When Elijah went and stood at the mouth of the cave, he was leaning in.

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:11-13 NLT

As you are looking back over 2016, can you find moments where you remember leaning into God ?

Did you hear HIM?

What was HE saying?

Were there passages from Scripture, songs, books, people, dreams and visions, nature, etc… in 2016 that spoke through the “hurricanes, earthquakes and fires” this world has to offer?

“…how faint the whispers we hear of HIM!” (Job 26:14)

When God speaks to me I often respond in poetry, as I process and paint the picture back to HIM. The dance goes something like this:

I pick my partner, the Holy Spirit, and ask Him to lead.

I read God’s word and respond in writing as to what I believe HE is saying to me.

God then confirms or clarifies as the day progresses.

And the dance continues…

For anyone who has ever been to counseling, one listening technique they use is to repeat back to the one speaking what they believe they hear them saying. This is also a good business and conversational practice. So much gets lost in translation, when we sit with assumptions we may not even know we have. When we repeat back what we think we hear, we have an opportunity for our gaps, or misunderstandings, to be filled with truth, and not just speculation. The one conveying information, direction, emotion, the “story” gets to confirm that they were heard correctly or respond differently in order to clarify what they were trying to impart.

“You don’t give Your heart in pieces

You don’t hide Yourself to tease us” (Lyrics from “Pieces” by Steffany Gretzinger)

When God is the One speaking, I am learning that my journals are one way I tell HIS story back to HIM. I am basically saying, “This is what I hear You saying. Is this true?” God will either confirm that I heard Him correctly or continue to clarify the message until I get it. HE is so kind and patient like that.

What a beautiful flip-the-script moment when we realize God is not trying to be sneaky or obscure to keep us at a distance, in confusion, in this world full of chaos. HE is actually being kind and clear, drawing us closer so we can hear, in a world where whispers speak volumes over the shouting matches for our attention.

I found yet another poem tucked into the pages of my 2016 journal:

“But A Whisper”

When He paints the horizon or the boundaries of light,

When He stirs the sea with a breath of pure might,

It is but a whisper.

When He fashions beauty from dust or makes ruins sing,

When He thunders and lightenings before the rain that He brings,

It is but a whisper.

When He comforts the grieving widow or the one who lost a child,

When He delights to dance with the broken, we see His love is wild.

It is but a whisper.

It is but a whisper. What does that even mean?

It means we’ve only seen the fringes of the Harvest He will glean.

He’s never late; He’s right on time

We’re in the prelude to HIS song

It is but a whisper, as the crescendo moves along.

The climax is coming, the peak is just ahead.

Lean into the whispers, live out what He said.

It is but a whisper but it’s how His lambs are fed.

So whisper!

What do we do with a “whisper” from God?

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