Loud and Clear

Moments in Matthew . . .

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17

What incredible confirmation and encouragement, so clear and unmistakable, the voice of the Father affirming His Son!

Don’t you relish the times in your own spiritual journey when God speaks clearly? Encounters filled with His presence and His obvious direction become highlights and stepping stones of faith along my twisting, turning way. I often long for audible communication from my Lord. Although I’ve never actually heard God’s voice aloud, there have been occasions when His voice was so sweet, so personal and so real that I have literally been changed in the moment.

Recently, my devotional reading in Springs in the Valley by Mrs. Chas E. Cowman provided an explanation of why these precious occurances are given, as well as why God scatters them throughout our lives. “God gives days of special illumination that we may be able to call to memory in the days of shadow . . . In the life of Paul, we find a few of these blessed interludes – when the Lord gave to him words of promise to remember in his days of trial that followed. If these special experiences came too often they would lose their flavor!”

Do you remember what happened just after the baptism of Christ? The temptation of Christ. I’m confident that during His grueling days of trial in the wilderness, when the evil one sought to sow seeds of doubt and discouragement, Christ clung to those words, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased,” and not only to the words themselves but to the manner in which they were spoken: loud and clear.

I’ve learned to keep a written record of God’s personal communication. My journal is dotted with direction He provided, encouragement He offered, assignments He gave . . . I return to these pages on the days His voice is so quiet that I can’t seem to hear, or when the shadows threaten my faith. Just as that sustaining, tangible revelation at Christ’s baptism had to strengthen and embolden the human side of the Savior, God’s words of promise plant hope deep within my soul.

Do you keep a journal? Not a diary, a journal -a written record of all you hear God speaking to you. If not, let me challenge you to give it a try. I know you’ll be greatly encouraged!