At some point a pastor encouraged us in a teaching to ask God to speak to us when we needed direction or encouragement or understanding. So I did when I would read the Bible I'd ask Him to help me understand or when I was in a difficult or stressful situation I would ask for direction or strength. I can't say that I have ever audibly heard the voice of God through the Holy Spirit, but I can tell you that I have had things happen that simply had to have been "a God thing."
Here are a couple recent examples.
First, several weeks ago my youngest son, Cameron, got pretty sick. It seemed that all of us in our family were sharing a cold and it was Cameron's turn. Only his got worse. He got to the point where he was really having a hard time breathing and as a mom I got scared. For me getting scared looks like moving into action with a strategized game plan. So as I quickly made mental inventory of the situation I became overwhelmed by all that we were going to need: a babysitter for our other son, advice from our doctor, then an emergency room, arrangements made for work responsibilities. The list seemed to go on forever. Somewhere in that moment (which felt very long but was really only about 60 seconds) I remembered the scripture verse that says "my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." I didn't know where in the Bible it was or even when I had learned it. But, it was a promise I ended up spending the next two days hanging on to.
God fulfilled that promise too. We did take Cameron to the ER where they treated him for 3 hours and then sent us to be admitted at the hospital. God provided a wonderful small group member to come watch our older son, grandparents who came and stayed with him late into the night. God provided a very gracious nurse in the ER who not only took amazing care of Cameron but also of Mom and Dad who were worried, tired and sick themselves. God provided people to take over other responsibilities we had over the course of the two days we were in the hospital and the strength and energy needed to care for our boys during that time and finally provided full health again to Cameron. But looking back, for me, one of the most incredible parts of the whole situation was the reminder that the Holy Spirit gave me of that scripture that truly became the promise I hung onto.
The other example that comes to mind is of a "nudge" I received to offer encouragement to a friend. A friend of mine recently made a major mid-coarse life change to go into full time ministry. She's doing a tremendous job and is making a large impact on many, many lives. She had come to mind several times one morning and I really felt like the Holy Spirit was nudging me to offer her some encouragement. I tried to talk myself out of it. I didn't want to presume that she was having any difficulties in her ministry and besides, she has many friends and surely they are all providing her with lots of care and encouragement. But I kept feeling like I should say something. So I did. We had a nice conversation and went on about our day. A few days later she mentioned to me how much it meant to her that I said something and then again later she repeated her appreciation. I don't know if what I said to her was something she needed at the time, something she will need later or not. I do believe though that for some reason the Holy Spirit gave me the nudge to encourage her and I saw how it was meaningful to my friend.
How about you? When has God nudged you to do something for someone or showed up for you in a way that could only be a "God thing"?
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