How does God speak to you? Perhaps with greater frequency than any other this question is asked of me regularly. I have spent many hours encouraging folks to daily commune with God to hear His voice and take heart, not in some mystical, magical “crossed over” sort of way, but by the means that He details for us in His Word. Now, make no mistake about it; I am not saying that all you have to do is read the Bible or study it. If that were so, then why give all the commands and encouragement to “meditate” on His Word or encourage us to “pray for wisdom?”
Think about it for a moment. How many ways do you communicate? Obviously, you speak words, but there is much more. As a matter of fact, researchers will tell you that well over half of what you communicate is not verbal, but through some other means. We will gesture, add various tones to our words and indicate attitude through posture or emotion. When we begin to break each of these down further, then we can truly see that what we communicate and how we communicate comes in many different forms. The young man who bursts through my office door, storms to the nearest chair, throws himself in it and wrings his hands incessantly, has pretty much told me that something is wrong, and he is in need of help without ever speaking a word.
Now, the Bible is God’s verbal communication to us, and it is wonderful, amazing and a marvelous thing that gives us all the information we need to become and remain His children. It is also the Rosetta Stone of understanding all the other ways that God communicates with us, which are no less valuable. For instance, God speaks to us through the natural world in volumes that are just amazing. Think for a moment of the natural beauty and variety we see around us each day. Do they not speak of just how loving God is toward us? Think of all the cycles of nature built into the natural order of things. Do they not speak of the unmistakable care and concern of God?
These, my friends, are the nonverbal communications of God, and by them, He speaks to you every day. Every day we are reminded that people die, life is beautiful, time must be used wisely and so much more – through the gift of His nonverbal communication.
In this day may you realize that God is continually trying to influence you in many ways. Hear His voice and heed it today. Give yourself to Him and live. “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1 NKJV). “The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory” (Psalm 97:6). “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).
