24 Feb 4 Ways We Can Hear God’s Voice
One of the Greater PUrposes of Life
I got a very unsettling phone call the Sunday before last and I wanted to share a few experiences that happened because of it that have helped me better understand how God speaks to me… which I think is one of the greater purposes of life… to learn to hear and discern His voice above all of the other voices and noise in this this world.
This is a skill I am still learning, but these experiences have helped me improve.
The Day Before the Call
The first experience happened the day before I received the phone call. I am so grateful God prepared me in this way for what was coming.
It was the Saturday before last and I was at the temple. I had about an hour between two service opportunities I was participating in so I took out my journal and scriptures and asked God to lead me to what He would have me hear from Him that day.
I had a lot of questions in my mind about different things. I wanted to know if we were working towards the things He wanted us to work on or if we needed to shift our focus a bit. I wanted to know if we were on the right track.
I opened my scriptures to a random spot and started reading until a phrase stuck out to me. I went to look up the phrase in the topical guide and I passed the term “mission of latter-day saints” which drew my attention. I studied that phrase and begin writing down scriptures about the mission of latter-day saints. Then I came across the phrase the “cause of Zion” which also drew my attention. I looked for that phrase in scripture and it eventually took me to Doctrine and Covenants Section 6.
I felt God was speaking to me through almost the whole revelation he had given Oliver Cowdrey. Then I came to verses 14-15 which pierced my heart. I read, “Blessed art thou for what you hast done and behold as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time. “
The Spirit whispered to my heart that this is what God wanted me to know. That He had been leading me along this whole time and we were where we needed to be. And that He would continue to guide us, I didn’t have to worry. He would lead us along.
Verse 15 read, “Thou knowest that thou hast inquired of me and I did enlighten thy mind, now I tell thee these things that thou mayest know that thou hast been enlightened by the Spirit of truth…”
and a few verses later, “fear not little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.”
I love hearing God’s voice to me through scripture, and this following words and phrases until I come to what I feel He wants me to hear is something I want to practice more often.
So scriptures is one very powerful way we can hear God speaks to us.
The Unsettling Call
Being reminded that we had been led and that we would continue to be guided was an important reminder that day because the next day I got the unsettling phone call.
I was at church and a call came from Mexico. When it came again a second time, I thought I better go out in the hall to get it because it must be important.
It was the orphanage director letting me know that two of the girls that I was very close to had run away from the orphanage. He wanted to know if they had tried to contact me.
I told him they hadn’t and to keep me updated with any news. I could tell he was very worried. Having two young teens wandering the streets of Tijuana alone was not a good thing.
I hung up the phone and went back to my seat. I felt kind of numb with an underlying worry. These kind of of news were becoming more normal and I thought that I must be getting used to them since I didn’t burst into tears or anything.
I made it through church and through dinner preparations, but as soon as I had the soup going on the stove, I sat on the bench by the fireplace, put my head in my hands, and began to sob.
No, it wasn’t getting easier, I was very worried, and this business of loving traumatized children without families was very painful.
That night, seeking comfort from the underlying anxiety and sadness that I had been carrying through the day, I put in my earphones, lay down in bed, and turned on some Christian music.
The first song that came on was a gift from Heavenly Father. I had heard it before, but this time it went straight to my heart and gave me great comfort. It’s called “The Truth I’m Standing on.” I heard:
Scared. O I thought I knew scared. But I’m so filled with fear. I can barely move.
Doubt. I’ve had my share of doubt. But never more thatn right now. I’m wondering where are You?
Here on the edge of fall apart. Somehow your promises find my troubled heart.
This is the truth I’m standing on. Eve when all my strength is gone. You are faithful foever and I know you’ll never let me fall.
Right now I’m choosing to believed. Someday I’ll look back and see all the pain had a purpose. Your plan was perfect all along. This is the truth I’m standing on.
Good. I believe you’re still good. Even when life’s not good. I will not lose this hope that the God who parts the sea promises He’s gonna make a way for me.
My rock, my shield, my firm foudation, I know I will not be shaken. You remind me where my help comes from.
This is the truth I’m standing on. Eve when all my strength is gone. You are faithful foever and I know you’ll never let me fall.
Right now I’m choosing to believed. Someday I’ll look back and see all the pain had a purpose. Your plan was perfect all along. This is the truth I’m standing on.
This is a second way I have found that God often speaks to me. It’s through words in music that suddenly penetrate my heart as if it was the first time I had heard them and they bring my comfort, peace, or insight.
Three Tender Mercies
A couple of days later we were in the car again, headed to visit the orphanage. Our house was being rented for a week so some of the kids and I decided to go visit our friends during that time.
Again, it was a mix of emotions to have the joy of seeing so many of them again, tinged with the sadness for those who were no longer there.
However, there were several tender experiences that occurred while we were there that reminded me that God was aware of me and these kids and that He will continue to help us.
The first happened in downtown Tijuana. I mentioned a young man a few videos ago who had asked us to memorize the song “A Child’s Prayer” as a group so we could sing it. He had asked if he could pretend I was his mom and had asked me a lot of spiritual questions about what was right or what was wrong. A couple of months after we left in the summer, he had run away and was living on the streets. He contacted me, but there was so little I could do, even though I had really wanted to come give him a hug, a meal, and to talk to him face to face as he was facing these hard decisions.
He told me at that time that he would turn himself in and he did. But he ran away again and was back out on the street. I didn’t know this until he contacted me as we were driving to Mexico and told me he was on the streets again, he had found a place to stay at first, but now he was back on the street and didn’t know what to do.
I told him that I didn’t know anyone in Tijuana that could take him in and that I didn’t have a way to help him, but that I was on my way to Mexico and I would love to see him and give him a hug while I was there.
The next day, I met him in downtown Tijuana and gave him that hug I had been dying to give him for many months. I also bought him some tacos and got to listen to him. I wished I could do more, but I shared a few words of advice and then prayed with him and his two friends who had also ran way. I told him to be wise, to think of his future and to listen to God’s voice in his heart.
I wished I could do more, but I did learn that he had turned himself in again the next day and was no longer on the streets at least.
As tragic as the whole experience was, I felt God’s presence with us, comforting us. The mercy in my getting to see him, get him that meal, and give him that hug I had so longed to give him months before did not escape me. Tender mercies are another way that God speaks to me, lets me know He is over all and that I can trust Him.
Another tender mercy was that on our second day there, I learned that one of the young ladies that had run away had turned herself in and was now also safe. This opened up a dialogue with someone that works for social services there that I am not ready to talk about yet, but that I hope will bring about some really good things. I had been so worried about her and I was so glad to know she was no longer on the streets.
I also have to mention the tender mercy that happened on our last day there. I was doing a devotional with the kids and we were talking about how God loves us. I asked them if they had any experiences where they had felt God’s love for them. One little 8-year old boy (whom I knew had a very tragic background) raised his hand and shared,
“Once I was feeling very sad because I felt that no one cared about me and no one wanted me. I prayed, and I knew that God loved me.”
What a sermon. God is aware of each of us and will let us know He loves us in a variety of ways. We can hear His voice in scripture, music, tender mercies, and as we ask Him in prayer.
I am so grateful to know that God loves me and that He loves each of us. I know we are never alone, no matter how hard things get, He will reach down to us and walk with us through the storms. If we look for His hand, we will find it.
Mia Miller
Posted at 21:31h, 26 FebruaryOh thank you for sharing! So beautiful!💝🙏
Karen Bates
Posted at 08:03h, 27 FebruaryThank you Mia ❤️❤️❤️
Eileen Fullenwider
Posted at 10:49h, 27 FebruaryGodbless