I heard that Voice one evening at a church service where my mother and I went to hear a visiting minister.
A few days before, my grandfather had suffered a stroke that left him unconscious and in critical condition. During the closing prayer, the pastor asked the congregation to think of someone who needed healing. I thought of Granddaddy. Although my faith in God in my teen years was strong, I was looking for a sign that night that God was listening to and cared about me.
As I prayed, I felt a tap on my right shoulder and a presence behind me which said, “Don’t worry. Your grandfather is going to be okay. He is going to wake up and talk and walk around his hospital room.”
I wept with relief and turned to my mother and said, “Granddaddy’s going to be all right.”
My father was at his father’s bedside that evening. When I told him what happened at the service, he gently brushed me aside, clearly doubtful. The next afternoon, I came home from school hoping to hear good news about Granddaddy. And I did. My father called from the hospital. “Macy, you were right. Your grandfather woke up today and talked and got out of bed and walked around the room. He’s going to be all right!”
Taps on the shoulder still get my attention. I have a friend who allows her Bible to fall open to the place where God wants to speak to her that day. One day while preparing for my daily devotion, I thought I’d give her practice a try. My Bible fell open to Isaiah 30, and my eyes rested on verses 20 and 21. I read them over and over, scraping crusty scum off gold. I learn through pain, and the Holy Spirit, my teacher, reveals Himself to me minute by minute. He guides me—with a tap on the shoulder or a whack across my back.
In the middle of adversity and affliction, God speaks. He points the way and gives us hope through voices of faithful servants who have gone before us. I will continue to listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice and believe.
Make it a point to listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice daily.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Macy Johnson is a native Floridian living the lake-life in Georgia. She is an instrument of God’s blessings as a writer, church pianist, community accompanist, wife, mother, nana, Bridge player, adoptee, retired auditor, and member of Word Weavers International. Her “God Sightings” are published weekly in the Greensboro Herald-Journal. Find her at www.macymjohnson.com, macymjohnson@gmail.com, and on Facebook as Macy Martin Johnson.