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When I was a young girl, we lived next door to a church, where, my friend and I use to like to climb up the back side of the church to a small balcony, attached to the main part of the church. A wooden railing was attached to the balcony and I use to walk on the outer edge, holding on to the railing, something, I know now I should have never been doing. One day, part of the railing snapped off....I fell to the ground, on my back, and watched the railing coming straight down towards me....suddenly, without any type of breeze or wind, the railing, in mid air, suddenly flew to my left, about six feet away from me! My friend witnessed the whole incident. Truly a miracle, and no one will ever convience me that it wasn't.
You're pretty sure about all this. I guess you defaulted to the Christian God, because you mentioned the Bible.
It is still back at square one.
IMHO, it's those that don't accept His existence that can't hear Him or won't listen to Him Really? You really believe we are hearing voices and "not hearing" them? Oh come on. I have enough integrity as a person that if I did hear a god talk to me, I would go on the evening news.
Instead, a lot of you adopt that casual "Oh, God talks to me all the time" thing. I have even heard some say they have seen God. If you heard or saw God, you'd tape record or film it too, as evidence. And, you'd be screaming in the streets, because it would be the single ONE most important event in history, if God talked to you.
That's why I don't believe you...you mention God talking to you, like you just clipped a coupon or something.
My reply to this is that I don't do that (shout it in the streets) because of the fact that non-believers wouldn't believe me anyway (case in point). And these experiences, especially the one I shared, are not something planned for and no one knows when they will happen, so how was I supposed to videotape or record anything? Also, what's experienced by me isn't necessarily anything anyone around me will see/hear/experience themseves (re-read my post). They are personal experiences so how is that supposed to be captured by video or microphone? Because they are personal, I don't need to provide evidence of anything to anyone, except myself.
You are entitled to your non-belief. I don't expect you to believe me at all. That wasn't my intention. I didn't share it to convert anyone or prove anything. I just answered the OP's post. Nothing more, nothing less.
When I was a young girl, we lived next door to a church, where, my friend and I use to like to climb up the back side of the church to a small balcony, attached to the main part of the church. A wooden railing was attached to the balcony and I use to walk on the outer edge, holding on to the railing, something, I know now I should have never been doing. One day, part of the railing snapped off....I fell to the ground, on my back, and watched the railing coming straight down towards me....suddenly, without any type of breeze or wind, the railing, in mid air, suddenly flew to my left, about six feet away from me! My friend witnessed the whole incident. Truly a miracle, and no one will ever convience me that it wasn't.
Wow! I guess God really didn't need to "talk" to you here, did He?
Very inspiring testimonies, everyone! I believe that only a person with a personal relationship with God can understand these things and know that they are not just coincidences or an emotional thing. Mostly, God speaks to me in a quiet way by a feeling in my heart. I can understand arguy's testimony of sometimes having a certain feeling to do something, not knowing why, and then finding out that God was leading... definitely a faith builder. One experience comes to mind... It's kind of personal, and has stayed with me. This was before I was married. God had led my wife and I together (at a voluntary service unit) and I was having a good morning, thinking about the greatness and love of God, looking forward to the future and getting married to this wonderful person. I especially felt the nearness and love of God. All at once, out of the blue, these words came to me so plainly that God might as well have spoken them audibly.. "Give her to me." What, Lord? What is going to happen? I thot she was mine? "Give her to me." This was real! Sometimes when God tells us to give a situation to Him, it isn't too hard, because we know that He wants the best for us, but I wasn't sure about this one... Is she going to die, or what? What will happen if I give her to God? It's hard to describe how I felt, but I this was so real that I honestly didn't know if I'd see her ever again if I gave her to God (but she was His in the first place!!) I don't know how long this struggle went on, but eventually I was able to surrender my will to God. I believe He asked this because He saw a need in my life, and to teach me a lesson that it would be best if He was the center of our marriage.. What impressed me with this experience was the closeness I had felt to God that morning, and how He chose that time to gently yet authoratively speak to me... His love was evident.
The Lord has spoken to me before.
He tells me things. I "hear" a voice in my mind that didn't come from me.
One time, I was struggling with some issues relating to aging, etc.
"You can't worship your own body."
Another time:
"Think like a child thinks."
He also told me my daughter was coming (before I knew I was pregnant,) and He also told me her name.
As believers sometimes we feel weary and worried and need to hear just one thing to refresh, encourage and strengthen us in our faith, God's voice. Whatever our situation calls for, guidance, comfort, assurance, strength, perseverance, faith, joy, peace-God's voice will apply. But you will not hear Him in the noise and rumble of the world or religion. It is seldom that we hear accurately from God in the rush of traffic, the office or chatter of friends, or watching TV. God wants to speak to us individually and for that we must be committed to seek solitude. God is still speaking, He has great and mighty things in store for for each of us.
Like many others, God has spoken to me in several ways. Mostly the ones that we take for granted. He has shown me a beautiful sunrise when I was in a moment of despair. He has placed just the right song on the radio at a moment that I needed to hear it. He has spoken to me in words. As others have described it, they were obviously not audible to anyone but me. My husband did not come rushing into the room and say, "Honey, did you hear that?" But I am certain that the words came from God. The times that stick with me, I was always in prayer, seeking an answer. One that I can relay was when my Parish had contacted me on very short notice and asked me if I could address the congregation on time, talent, and treasure. I agreed and immediately began working on my speech. Speaking to my church family is something that I do not take lightly. I have only done it a couple of times, and each time I was lead by the Holy Spirit to do so. But this time was different, I was given little time and it was not something that I felt personally inspired to do. So I sat in prayer and asked God to give me the words. However, the words I kept hearing (quite clearly) were "wing it". I kept thinking, "you've got to be kidding me". I am not a "wing it" kind of person. At least not when it comes to public speaking. But it was so clear. I spoke to my husband about it and he felt that it would not be right to go before the congregation without some sort of prep. He felt that I should at least write down something for referral. I sat and I tried to write, I came up with what I thought was a good introduction, but I kept hearing those words, "wing it". So I stopped and took my introduction with me to Mass and figured that I would "wing it" after my brief introduction. I had shared my speech with a very good friend and she thought that it sounded good. She was very concerned about the finale though. I told her it would be alright, I was stepping out in faith. Well, then the Priest (a new priest to our parish, and one who did not know me) asked to hear what I was going to present. I gave him my written introduction and he was very upset about it. He felt that it was too "in your face" and he was a "feel good" kind of Priest. I tried to explain to him where I was going with it and how I felt that I had been led by the Holy Spirit, but he was quite adamant that I would not speak to "his" church in those tones. So I trashed it, took my seat near my friend and tried to keep my composure. I was very upset by the way he had addressed me, but still felt that I was right and that God would lead me. I spent a few minutes in prayer and when I was called to the podium, I did precisely what I had been instructed to do. I "winged it". I was told that there were many positive comments about my speech that day. I must admit that when I sat down, I was really not too sure what I had said, but I guess that it went well.
There is one other time that I want to share, because I had all but forgot it until I was writing this (and it is too important to forget). I was 5 months pregnant with my 5th child, it was around 2:30 AM and I was in the ER. I had spent 6 hours in the waiting room and was finally in a bed in triage. There was a woman in the area beside me (separated by curtains). She had been in the waiting room as long as me and had seemed to be in considerable pain. She moaned the whole time she was out there and was still moaning now. Listening to her talk with the Dr., I felt that she was in there a lot and was probably an addict hoping for more pain pills or something. She seemed truly crazy. All her moaning and babbling about pills. She was certainly not helping me with my worries. I had been experiencing shortness of breath, slurred speach and heart palpitations (and I was pregnant). I had no idea what was wrong with me and was beyond worry. My husband was with me and trying to console me as best as he could. I was quiet and in prayer talking to God. The Dr. had left the woman beside me and she was still moaning. She just wouldn't shut up!!!!! But all of a sudden, she got quiet. Then she said, "it will be ok, honey. Trust in God." I don't know if she was talking to me. She did not know me, she did not know what was going on with me. As far as I knew, she was completely crazy!!! But her words reached out and touched me and gave me such comfort. I truly have to believe that God spoke to me through that woman.
Do you ever have the moments when you are not sure how to handle something and their is a feeling in your heart telling you what to do? To me this is god working, the holy spirit guiding you. Sometimes I have moments where I know I am commiting a sin and something enters my thoughts telling me what I am doing wrong. I believe that is also the holy spirit at work.
Alot of people try to explain it as your inner voice. Not me, I like to call it God's voice. It is his way of helping you, guiding you to do the right things. Do we always listen, no, we are born sinners. That is the amazing part of the whole thing. Jesus Christ has nailed all of our sins on the cross with him when he died. What a gift the lord has given us with his son. But we should always try and glorify god and do what is right by listening to that inner voice talking to us. He also talks to us and guides us through trials and tribulations. My family is going through so much right now, and I have leaned on the lord to guide me through these tough times. And you know what, it works. I still have moments of weakness, but god is helping me along the way.
Have you ever been impacted in such a way after reading something specific, and at such a precise time, that you felt it may have been God trying to tell you something? If so, how did you know it wasn't plain old coincidence?
Or - have you ever physically observed something that sort of "came alive" to you by representing something else in such a way as it made you go "Ah hah, now I get it"? Was it mere imagination, or do you think it was God illustrating something for you? How were you able to tell?
In what way(s) has God delivered a message to you? Was/Is it through something you read, heard, observed - perhaps something else, whether little or big? Tell me about your personal experiences that have led you to believe you had received a message from God - and in particular, how were you able to discern that it was indeed a message from Him?
I just know when I think it's God. I can't actually describe it but it's just a feeling of joy and total peace at the same time...if that makes any sense. All the ways you have mentioned plus occurences and experiences in my life and in friend's and family's lives as well have brought that feeling to me at times. I know confusing...but it's all I got.
BTW...good to see you came back!
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