I was driving down I-65 tonight when out of nowhere a solid sheet of rain came down. The lightning was so vivid and bright that it almost blinded me. I couldn’t see the lanes or where the road curved and I almost started to panick. Then the voice came.

It said, “It will not come near you.”

That’s all. Just that one phrase over and over. “It will not come near you.” I can’t say that I knew exactly what that means, but I know that at that point a peace came over me that defied the bad weather and my own iffy driving skills. I knew I would be alright because God had said I would be.

I think if you listen you can hear God’s voice telling you, “You’re safe with me. You can trust me in this. I’ve got this.” No matter what storm you’re in, or maybe if you’re in a calm right now, you still need to be reminded that your life is in Good Hands. I know I do. You need to hear as a believer that nothing touches you without God’s say-so and that heartaches and struggles often are blessings in disguise.

The question is not if God still speaks, but if we are listening. Are we open to all the ways God can speak to us? Obviously, He speaks foremost through Scripures, but He also speaks in many other ways. It could be a lyric from a song or a line from a movie or a quote from a book. It could be a small whisper in your head. It could be a church sign or bumper sticker or a random scribbling on a wall.

I miss about 90% of what God is saying to me. The good news is that He is patient to keep repeating what I missed until I finally get it. The better news is that what God is saying to me is not that you’re hopeless or that you’re one strike away from being done, but that you are more loved than humanly possible and more blessed than you have any right to be and you won’t spend one second outside of God’s watchful care and tender mercy.

Oh yeah, and He speaks through friends as well, through facebook posts and texts and emails and random conversations. I experienced that tonight as well.

May you have ears to hear what He’s saying and the ability to believe that it’s not anger, but absolute love and compassion being spoken over you.

Amen and amen.