5 Highly Unorthodox Ways God Might Speak To You

Home » Faith» 5 Highly Unorthodox Ways God Might Speak To You

» Posted by Marc on May 5, 2011 in Faith

A lot of people know the normal ways God might speak to them

From their earliest days, Christians have always believed that God speaks loud and clear through the written words of the Bible. But many would quickly add that he also speaks through that “still small voice.” Still some might say he speaks through circumstance or your conscience.

Others would say he speaks through prayer and through the prophetic voice of his church.

Those are all mighty fine ways to hear from God and we wholeheartedly agree, but here in Berkeley life can sometimes work a little differently.

We still recognize those established ways of hearing from God, but we’ve got some of our own to put up for consideration:

1) Parking Tickets

Maybe you walked back to reload the parking meter just a minute too late. Maybe you forgot that today was street sweeping day. Maybe you’re were just dropping something off for a few seconds.

It doesn’t matter: the City would like to thank you for your generous contribution!

There’s nothing like an unexpected parking ticket to trigger a cascade of doubt over whether God is truly good. Small misfortunes like this interrupt our busy agenda and force us to examine the state of our hearts.

When the rubber meets the road, do we trust that God is in fact good? Will we love and worship him in the midst of seemingly unnecessary troubles?

Every untimely parking ticket is a opportunity to bow down to trouble or embrace the furnace anyway.

2) Heartbreak

You meet someone. They are absolutely perfect. They must be the One.

You try to imagine yourself happy with anyone else and you just can’t. This other human being was meant to spend the rest of their days in your arms. And right on your way to confess your undying love, you receive that fateful text message saying: “We should see other people”.

There’s nothing quite so painful, humiliating, and awful as a broken heart.

As tender as our hearts are in those moments, I think often times God is speaking through them. He has something to say. And what he is usually saying is: “I miss you.”

The Bible tells us that God has done everything in his power to make it so we could be reconciled to him. That’s why he sent his Son. So if you think that your heartbreak is hard, think about God feels when his beloved children run away from him time and again.

Although he doesn’t cause our heartbreak, he can speak to us through it.

3) Ethnic Food

One of my favorite things about Berkeley is available of high quality, low cost cuisine hailing from all corners of the globe. We have Turkish, Pakistani, Brazilian, French, Japanese, Ethiopian, and Vietnamese eateries all walking distance from campus. It’s heaven on earth!

Yes, God speaks through ethnic food.

In what way, you ask? Ethnic food reminds us that there’s no one food that’s better than another. Each country and region has their own specialities, delicacies, spices, and flavors that make them unique. There’s simply no such thing as a best food.

In the same way, God has designed the Church to be the same way. There is no best person, no most important person, no person better than one another. God has made them all uniquely different, endowed them with varying and complementary gifts, and that’s how he wants it.

Eating exotic, strange, and unfamiliar food will remind us that God likes a variety. He moves in and through every tribe, every tongue, and every nation.

4) Insomnia

Every once in a while for no apparent reason at all, after I go to bed and close my eyes, nothing happens. I sit there hoping to be whisked away to a magical land of slumber where I have super powers and live in the Matrix … but I can’t fall asleep!

Hour after hour of trying and pushing and straining, I lie there perfectly still.

But to no avail.

When insomnia attacks, it’s no fun. It can be easy to get ANGRY. It can be easy to punish your pillow with your fist. It can be easy to fall into despair. But sometimes I decide to do something else.

I decide to talk to God.

I ask him how we are doing. I ask him how what he thinks of me. I ask him if he’s pleased with me. And in the midst of those unpleasant moments of consciousness, God often gives me peace. Yes, God often speaks.

5) A Theological Crisis

Living in a highly motivated and intellectual environment, it’s not uncommon for people to ask deep questions. Hard questions. Impossible questions.

And as keepers of the sacred scriptures, it can be easy for Christians to feel like we are supposed to have all the answers. But although we have the ultimate Answer in the shape of Jesus Christ, many times we are just as confused as everyone else.

At any moment, our carefully planned intellectual or theological framework can come crashing down. It might be that one deeply challenging professor or that science textbook or that new friend who makes you question what you have been taking for granted.

I believe these moments of doubt and confusion are not something to run and hide from. They are something to embrace with caution, patience, and faith.

You see, it’s when we are so confident and certain of everything, that’s when we stop paying attention to voice of the Holy Spirit in our life. If we think we’ve got it all together, we don’t have to trust him to lead the way.

So when we encounter some difficult questions that shake us to the core? Just relax a bit. Reach out and ask for faith. It just might be God trying to get through to you.

It’s your turn: what are some unorthodox ways that God speaks to you?

Photo Credit