Are you hearing from the Lord? When you hear, do you obey? I share a story of how the Lord spoke to me and although I doubted I now better recognize the voice of the Lord.
I had taken on additional obligations and new responsibilities at work through the winter and into the early spring of 2024, which as you can imagine added some stress into my life. Around the same time I also began a different work out routine at the gym which also was also draining my energy.
One night I noticed a small itchy patch on my thigh. I thought to myself that it must be some dry skin due to the old weather, and that it will go away soon. I apply some ointment and don’t think about it further. The itch continues after a couple of days and increases in size by a small amount. I wonder to myself what it could possibly be and if it is a rash that I picked up from the weight machines at the gym.
Taking a guess, I went to the store and purchased some anti-fungal spray and use apply it for a couple days but with no improvement. It’s not growing but it’s also not shrinking, but I’m not sure what else to do because otherwise I feel fine. I continue to use it over the course of a couple weeks.
One day I’m about to open new can of the anti-fungal spray and the Lord says to me:
That’s not what you have.
Which I immediately thought well what do I have? And i also thought is that the Lord? I’m not so sure. Either way, I sprayed it that day just in case I heard wrong. Note: I should have listened to the Lord and saved myself $8 instead of opening a new can of an ineffective treatment. Since the can was opened it continued on using it with no improvement.
With some thinking, and having the thought that maybe that was the Lord, it occurred to me it could be a stress rash. After I completed my new work obligations the stress disappeared and so did the rash.
Why did I doubt it was the Lord?
Part of it was a fear of the unknown: what if it’s something worse? Part of it was not realizing to the small details of our lives to which the Lord cares about us.
Why share this story?
I want to share that the Lord cares for us even in the small details and speaks to us about it. For me it was the condition of my rash. Jesus also states:
Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Luke 12:7
But I also believe the Lord is training us to hear His voice and grow in intimacy with Him:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:27
The Lord spoke to me about something that is verifiable and through that process I could compare what I heard in my head against what was happening in my life, and through that I am now better able to hear the voice of the Lord.
My prayer for you:
Lord Jesus thank you for speaking to us! Thank you for honoring us with your word and your friendship. Continue to draw us closer to you into a deeper place of intimacy. In Jesus’ name amen!