The Lord’s word tangible in many ways

Rob Martin, pastor, Lawrence Vineyard Church:

Throughout history, God has spoken to people in a variety of ways. He continues to speak to people today in ways that the individual is best able to receive the message.

When God spoke to my wife and I to move to Lawrence to start a new church, it was through a variety of ways.

He gave me mental impressions that I knew were not my own. He spoke to Jen through significant repetitive dreams. When I would read passages in the Bible where Jesus was telling his disciples to go and spread his good news, the words on the paper would seem to pop out in 3-D.

Spiritual leaders in my life confirmed what I believed God was calling me to do as they could see it as well.

At one point while we were trying to follow what we believed was God’s plan for our lives, things became pretty hard. We had some disappointments and were really questioning whether it was the right thing to do. At a conference, a stranger, while praying for me, told me, “Take this for what it’s worth. I think God is telling me to tell you that the plans he has for your life are his plans and not yours. You need to stop doubting what he has called you to do and follow through with it.”

Since then, we have never doubted. Within weeks of being in Lawrence, we were absolutely convinced that we were supposed to be here. God gives strength to follow through with what he is telling you to do.

So, for us, God has spoken to us through strong impressions, dreams, Scripture, leaders and even strangers. In general, God will speak to the individual first before he uses other people to speak to them. In all cases, though, it will never contradict what the Bible says.

– Send e-mail to Rob Martin at info@lawrencevineyard.org.

Listen for him with a still mind and open heart

The Rev. Angela Lowe, chaplain, Lawrence Memorial Hospital, 325 Maine:

Anyone who knows me knows I love the beauty of iris in full bloom. One of my favorite pieces of artwork is a sculpture relief plague of irises, which includes a verse from the Psalter: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

About 10 years ago this verse became real to me while I was in a vocational quandary. I was in a ministry setting where I felt bound by patriarchal piety restrictions that made me feel voiceless and hopelessly subservient. I knew my feminine spirit was not free to fulfill my life’s calling. Through the struggling, wrestling and whining process, I let go of my self-centered directives. In letting go there was a release into the stillness.

“There is peace when we let go into the stillness where God’s arms are always underneath,” states Sue Monk Kidd.

I confess that I did not hear God audibly speaking in the middle of the night like the young boy, Samuel, experienced in the temple with Eli.

Yet, I know that God spoke to me in the silence of the eve of an annual women’s conference. I had been ambivalent in committing to furthering my theological education. After that encounter in the stillness of the night, I knew which seminary to attend to pursue my chaplaincy goals.

God continues to speak to us when our minds are still and our hearts are receptive. Those moments of spiritual discernment may come during your morning walk, looking up from a hospital bed or meditating in an iris garden. When our heart waits we eventually know – we know our Creator has called us by name and we are never the same.

Shalom.

– Send e-mail to Angela Lowe at angela.lowe@lmh.org.