Today we’re going to get into the ‘Wayback’ and go waaaay back to when we lived in Europe and the older kids were young. I took a study called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. It was a good, in-depth study and amongst other things suggested four ways that God talks to us as believers: The Word, Prayer, other people and circumstances. Very valuable info, but somehow I felt something was missing. Fast forward to last year when I read a book by Susie Davis entitled Unafraid: Trusting God in an Unsafe World. A really intense narrative about a lady who had to have experienced one of the very first school shootings in America back in 1978 and the ensuing anxiety that followed her for more than a decade (It ends well). Susie says that God has always “talked” to her through trees. I thought that was a little strange until I realized that God talks to me that way too. Not through trees, primarily but through other ordinary things– green sea turtles, mountains and music. So now Susie and I can be strange together!
So, exactly what do I hear? Good question. I hear the voice of a loving father who wants to stay connected with me throughout my day. When I glimpse a green sea turtle, I cannot express the excitement I feel except to compare it to a giddy toddler waiting for the ever-startling jack-in-the-box to pop out and scare him to death! Then he giggles and does it all over again. And again. And again. Well turtles don’t evoke in me that kind of startle response unless they pop up really close to me. When this happens there is no mistaking it. I suck in my breath audibly and try not to fall off the board. I love it! Again! Again! I cry (usually not aloud) and my eyes bore holes into the ocean or river floor to surmise when I will spot the next adorable amphibian coming up for a breath. I’m so focused it can often give me a bit of a headache. If it’s sunny you can see them better than when it is overcast, gliding silently beneath the water’s surface. I don’t know how something so large and round and hard can have such a profound affect on me, but they do. Sometimes I hear the gentle voice of my Father saying, “Do you search for me this hard? Even half as much effort would be amazing!” Yet He is so good to keep rewarding me with turtles. I beg for them every time we go to the beach…
And then there are marvelous majestic mountains. My first experience with mountains, after growing up in the suburbs of (flat as a pancake) Chicago, IL was Bavaria, a region of southern Germany. I think I was 19 and my husband and I were experiencing being newlyweds on one of our first vacations together. We were driving to Garmisch and I think my parents and grandparents were with us but that might have been a later trip. All I remember is that when I first caught sight of the beyond-breathtaking beauty of the snow-capped Alps, it was surreal. I am sure every other mountain range will pale in comparison. I’ve never seen the Rockies (except via airplane) but somehow I fear I might be disappointed. When my youngest was just a baby, Chad and I left him with my parents and went skiing in Utah. Bliss. Even for my first time the bunny slope brought a delight that I truly hope I can experience again.I come alive in the mountains. Despite the big bruise on my leg, I went again the next day. Who can resist so much divine loveliness? The mountains remind me of how big my Father is and how small I am. Even here in Hawaii, I am in love with the Ko’olaus and the Waianae Range. I cannot pick a favorite. They are both my good friends and they each have their own secret allure that simply escapes my words. Yes, the mountains leave me speechless. Of course, that could be all the rugged terrain we encounter as we wander merrily along…
Though I love turtle and mountains, they are (she said a bit wistfully), not an everyday part of my life. Yes, I see the mountains here as I drive about my day but I do not hike through them nearly as often as I’d like. Music however, is a very pervasive part of my day. Worship music, usually, but not always. My daughter has her favorite music and she likes to bring it in the car as she is not a big fan of the radio. We also listen to classical music for school and I like it as well. Nat King Cole, Jack Johnson, Toby Mac and Bach…It’s all inspiring and rather groovy but what I don’t care for is most country and western or pop music. Talking about a girl who left and the dog died and now I’m going to go cry in my beer just doesn’t do it for me. I can take limited amounts of the blues but as one of my friends in DC quipped, “I ain’t got no use for the blues. You got problems? You need to take ’em to Jesus and move on!” I kind of have to agree with her but I like the music and it must be rather cathartic to express one’s angst through something as powerful as music. The blues just seems classier to me than C & W. However, all that to say, my Father usually talks to me through music that focuses on Him. And so I find praise and worship music to be the soundtrack of my life. I rely on it more than I should. I love scripture set to music. Someone needs to create a soundtrack to the Bible so I can memorize it via song! Isn’t it so much easier to hide something in your heart when you can belt it out? (in the shower??) Our houses are pretty close here in Hawaii so I don’t do much to annoy the neighbors–I keep it in my head but it does rewind over and over again and I find that the lyrics that move me are the ones that really apply to my own life in the moment or in the past. That is the voice of my Dad. He’s got a good voice.
So there you have it! And though I think Henry Blackaby is definitely on to something in his study, I think there are a variety of ways God talks to people depending on them! Their culture, their needs, their love languages… I find more and more that I have tended to put God in a box and I am trying to break that terrible habit. God will not be bound. He will do what He will do. His ways are not our ways. All I know is He will not contradict scripture and He will not doing anything that will hurt me in the long run. Because “He is a good, good Father. It’s who He is, It’s who He is and I’m loved by You. It’s who I am, It’s who I am…” See what I mean? Everything relates to a song. Isn’t it phenomenal how He reaches out to us? How does God talk to you? Look around and pray for Him to reveal it to you. You might be surprised how seemingly ordinary thing are His wonderful way of drawing us close. You might just discover the soundtrack of your life.
It is my dearest wish it is laced with the voice of your beloved Father.
Decidedly Different 