Family and Faith
DID YOU HEAR GOD Whisper Today? by Ron Bradley One of my favorite books last year was, “The Power of a Whisper” by Pastor Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church outside of Chicago, Illinois. He gives practical instruction how we can learn to hear from heaven as we navigate our lives here on earth. One of our greatest challenges in today’s loud culture is to hear and to distinguish the voice of God.
Dr. Ron Bradley is the pastor at First Baptist Church Roswell. You may contact him at 770-587-6980 or ron@rfbc.org.
At a particularly difficult time at Willow, Pastor Hybels desperately was in need of a little encouragement from above, so he hopped on a boat, and headed out on the lake, prepared to hear meaningful words from heaven. During the next three hours there was nothing but silence. As he readied to haul up the anchor, he saw a Bud Light beer can float by. “I stood there wondering: Is this a message from God? If so, what could it mean? Am I supposed to drink Bud Light? Am I supposed to tell my congregation not to drink Bud Light? Is there a message inside the can?”
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Speak Lord, for your servant hears!
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After a minute, he figured, “God was probably just telling me to respect His creation, fish the can out of the water and toss it into the garbage.” When he returned home, his family who knew he had invested his afternoon in “meaningful dialogue with God,” asked, “So, what did God say to you?” “Pick up the beer can — that’s what He said,” they all laughed together. Sometimes God just speaks so simply to us, yet we try to complicate the message. Sometimes God just speaks to us in the power of a whisper. After that experience, Pastor Hybels asked his congregation to share with him how God had whispered to them and how they had responded. Cecelia wrote, “A couple of months ago I came home from the grocery store and heard God say, ‘Give it all away!’ I jumped back into my car and drove directly to the church’s food pantry.” And she gave it all away! How we all wish we could be so tuned to God’s voice that we hear and respond to His whispers! To love like He loves, serve like He serves, give like He gives! May our prayer ever be, “Speak Lord, for your servant hears!”
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