Hearing God’s Voice – Part 3
Continued from Hearing God’s Voice – Part 2…
Then, I began to wonder what the outcome of all of this might be: what would Joy Behar think when she got my book? Would she read it? Would it even make it past the mailroom at ABC Studios? Would she reach out somehow and thank me? Would I ever know? I even wondered if I might become a target of persecution for my faith.
The next morning at church one of our pastors spoke in our Sunday Community Group. His lesson, from the book of Ezekiel, was that God never gives up on His people. When Pastor Dan read Ezekiel 2:6-8, I knew the Lord was answering my questions from the day before:
“6 And you, son of man, (Debra) do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, (Debra) listen to what I say to you…” (Emphasis mine).
I may never know the result of sending my letter and book to #JoyBehar . I do know it arrived at #ABC Studios on Monday, March 12, 2018. It was reported that the she’d called Vice President Pence that weekend and apologized for what she’d said. I know that she apologized publicly on The View on Tuesday, March 13. I may never know if I had any part in influencing that decision, and that’s okay. I’ll just keep praying that my words showed her a different perspective, from God’s loving heart to hers. (It’s His kindness that leads us to repentance.)
Neither should I be concerned with jabs, hurtful words or difficulties that come from my faith and obedience to God. My job is to be faithful to Jesus, planting seeds of faith whenever I’m asked and leave the results to Him.
Squirrel getting ready to plant seeds
So, you may be asking why I waited to blog about this experience. I set out to write on several occasions but something always prevented me from following through. But yesterday our resident squirrel
showed up on our porch again. He jumped into a plumeria pot, dug a little hole and planted a nut or seed; I knew God was telling me the time had come.
So, are you hearing God’s voice? Is He asking you to do something for Him? Maybe He’s asking you to believe in Him. How will you answer? Remember, God never gives up on His people. He said so.
Oh, and I’ll let you know if I hear anything from #JoyBehar
Hearing God’s Voice – Part 2
Continued from Hearing God’s Voice…
Squirrel getting ready to plant seeds
Planting seeds. The little squirrel was just planting seeds. That was what God was asking ME to do: send my book to Joy Behar along with a gracious and respectful cover letter, explaining my perspective on faith and hearing God’s voice.
So I did; and here is what I wrote:
Dear Joy,
First, I have to tell you that I love your name: Joy. In fact, that is my middle name, so it’s something we have in common. Joy is also something I choose each day, despite living with a chronic illness (multiple sclerosis), which I’m able to do because of my faith.
I’m writing to you regarding your comments about Mike Pence and hearing the voice of God as a sign of mental illness. My hope is that in sharing my journey you might consider another perspective.
I’ve written a book, entitled Garden Lessons: Listening for God’s Voice, a copy of which I’ve enclosed. It highlights through short garden stories how praying and meditating on God’s words are part of a spiritual journey; listening for and hearing God’s voice is a part of growing in faith. A synopsis of my journey is written on page 81 (About the Author). Chapters can be read in any order, but if you read only one I’d suggest “The Baby Hummingbird”, page 13, one of my personal favorites.
I firmly believe God is real; that He loves us and wants to have a personal relationship with us through His Son, Jesus; that He speaks to us through the Bible and through everything He created. My experience with Him has given me strength to face daily challenges with the assurance that, with His help, I can handle whatever I may face. I would love for you to know that assurance, too.
Thank you for your time. You remain in my thoughts and prayers.
Joyfully,
Debra J. Vaughn
I packaged up one of the color, coffee table versions of Garden Lessons and felt an urgency to mail it to Joy right away…today…on a Saturday morning! I thought, “Lord, really? It’s late morning, it’s raining and I don’t even know if there’s a post office nearby that’s open!” But, I checked online and, sure enough, I found one that stayed open until 1pm. Sensing the urgency was from God, I headed out right away.
When it was my turn to go to the worker’s window, Ha, who usually works at my local post office, greeted me, recognizing my familiar face. I told her I wanted my package to get to ABC Studios as soon as possible, but when she put the address into her computer it didn’t exist. “Oh dear,” I said, “I just got it off the internet this morning.” I reached for my phone in my purse, but it wasn’t there! I must have left it at home!
“Oh, would you like to use mine?” she asked. (Seriously? Have you ever had postal workers offer their own personal phone for you to use because you left yours home?)
“Really? You’d do that for me?” I asked. She assured me it would be her pleasure and got it ready for me to use. When I found the correct number, she even fixed the address on the front of my package and made certain it would arrive on Monday.
Driving home I was so grateful for the Lord’s provision at the post office; for this worker that went w-a-y beyond the call of duty; for using all this to confirm that I had, indeed, heard His voice as it all came together this way. Then, I began to wonder what the outcome of all of this might be: what would Joy Behar think when she got my book? Would she read it? Would it even make it past the mailroom at ABC Studios? Would she reach out somehow and thank me? Would I ever even know? Then I began to wonder if I might become a target of persecution for my faith…
To Be Continued…Part 3 Coming Tomorrow!
Hearing God’s Voice
Do you hear God’s voice? Would you know it if you heard it? How do you know it’s His voice and not your own thoughts or those of an imposter from the spiritual realm trying to mislead you?
A couple of months ago I heard that a co-host on the ABC talk show, The View, had questioned the mental health of a man of faith who holds a prominent position in government; actually in the White House. Many held that Joy Behar was mocking the faith of our Vice President, when she said: “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you. That’s called mental illness, if I’m not correct, hearing voices.” Ouch!
There was a call to stand for our faith, to speak on behalf of all people of faith and to demand that ABC stop allowing insults of the Christian faith to continue. So, I prayed over what my response, if any, should be. You’ve already read about the predicaments I can get into, when I act without thinking and praying over my words or actions (see my blog “In The Dead Of Night”). https://gardenlessonsbook.com/in-the-dead-of-night/ In a situation like this, where so many others were already expressing themselves, probably with anger and quite forcefully, I couldn’t quite see what benefit my perspective would bring to ABC or Ms. Behar.
Soon I felt a distinct impression in my heart and mind that said, “You have much to say about this. No one else has written a book entitled, “Garden Lessons: Listening for God’s Voice”.
Okay! I thought. That’s very true! But as I pondered the “impression”, I wondered if I might have mistaken my own idea as something from God. After all, this might merely be a way to promote myself and generate book sales, which might be okay but not necessarily what God wanted in this situation. So I prayed again, this time asking the Lord if this was what He wanted me to do, and to help me know without a doubt if this was my own idea or His.
Squirrel getting ready to plant seeds
I was actually up early, getting ready to lead the worship music at my Bible study, when I was talking this over with Him. Still praying, I went out to the kitchen to eat breakfast before I left, when I noticed our resident squirrel on our porch. He jumped into one of our large potted plumeria plants, dug a little hole, planted a seed or nut, then jumped over to the next pot, digging another hole and planting another seed; and on to the next pot doing the same thing. He dug holes and planted seeds in all SEVEN pots, before leaping off of the porch and out of my sight.
Planting seeds. The little squirrel was just planting seeds. That was what God was asking ME to do: send my book to Joy Behar along with a gracious and respectful cover letter, explaining my perspective on faith and hearing God’s voice.
So I did…
To Be Continued….Part 2 Coming Tomorrow.