I don’t know if you get a kick out of those stories that pop up every once in a while where someone finds the image of Jesus in a piece of toast, or a corn flake, or some other object where you wouldn’t expect to see Him, but there was another one in the news recently from Slovakia.  A lady was making some lovely baked goods when she spotted the face of Jesus on the glass part of her oven door.  It wowed all the villagers and made international news.

Stories like that get me thinking – could Jesus appear in an oven door?  Or in a bolt of lightning?  Could He speak to you in a voice so clear that you knew that it had to be divine communication?

I desperately tried to hear from God during my teenage years.  I was trying to figure out what my future would look like, and I was feeling lost and a little down as well.  So on a very warm summer night, I walked to the end of my block, sat on a big dirt hill, and watched a lightning storm in the distance light up the sky.  I prayed.  I waited.  I didn’t hear anything.  Or did I just miss it?

I guess I wanted to hear God’s booming voice (in the style of Morgan Freeman) to say “Andy, here is the plan for your life.  Follow it, and you’ll be good to go!”

Instead, I walked back to my house a few minutes later, confused why I didn’t hear from God the moment I had requested His presence.

I’m still waiting for the booming voice, but ever since that night on the hill, I’ve found that God speaks to me in smaller ways.  Through an unexpected check in the mail, a business opportunity that I wasn’t expecting, or an old friend that wants to reconnect.  As you move along the path of God’s will, the signposts of where to turn won’t always be obvious.  But there will always be small reminders.

One of the best examples of this in the Bible is from the life of Elijah:

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

I hope you can shut down all the distractions and listen for the whisper today.