Tuesday, January 22, 2008

God's Voice

Vic and I and our girls just spent a long week-end at Whistler.
For those of you who have been there in winter, I need say no more . For the rest of you let me just say that it is spending time drinking in God's majestic beauty !!
The above photo was taken from the entrance of our townhouse which overlooked the golf course and the mountains beyond.


The above photo was taken from our townhouse window.



Vic took this picture of me standing beside the benches under this roof!
Here I am standing on the snow covered sidewalk (or is it a tunnel!) on our way back to our townhouse after a walk. The sun was just starting to set.
We had an wonderful weekend enjoying each other and also the beauty around us.
I was struck anew by the power of God's Voice.
His Voice is impossible to ignore in the grandeur of His creation but I was also stirred to the acknowledgement that His voice truly is around us all the time.
The question is how sensitive are we to hear Him.
I think God purposely created children with a propensity to turn a literal deaf ear to the voice of their parents, so that we can 'feel' what God feels like when we ignore His Voice 99% of the time.
We did have one scare on our week end that illustrates how easily we can miss God's voice.

I had stayed up late the night before and I was looking forward to a restful sleep on Saturday night.
I had nicely fallen asleep just after 12:30 am when I was awakened by my husband’s “the sky is falling” tone of voice saying that he thought he had lost his wallet.

My first thought was to say, “Where did you say you hid your wallet when you went out for a walk yesterday without it?” But then I immediately realized that that was the day before and we had been shopping in the village since and had been out for dinner that evening.

So I got up and we did a search including all the places where of course it could not be but you look anyway because you are desperate.
It seemed to be no where. He last remembered having it at the restaurant.
I tried calling the restaurant but of course it was already closed.
I found a Whistler lost and found number but it wasn’t open until eight in the morning.
I started calling credit cards -- he thought he only had his debit and one credit card with him and thankfully the one credit card he had turned out to be one I can paid off and cancelled so no problem there.
The cash we could live without – although I did wish I had let him buy me that necklace that I had admired earlier that evening !!
It worst thing was thinking of the hassle involved in replacing personal information stuff… birth certificates, licence, etc.

In the end – because he was too upset to sleep anyway - Vic took his large flashlight and decided to walk back down to the Village and hope against hope that it would still be lying where it must have fallen out of his jeans’ pocket.

He left and I sat down to pray …. Almost immediately I felt an incredible peace that all would be well. So I asked that the Lord would give Vic the same peace. I wasn’t sure whether the peace meant that he would find the wallet or that someone would turn it in but I trusted that in the end it would all work out OK.

After some time I called Vic on his cell. Hearing loud voices in the background when he answered I asked “Where in the world are you ?” He answered that he was in the Village but the streets were full of revellers in various stages of drunkenness. He had not found his wallet so he was coming home.
When he got home I told him I had had a real peace from God while I was praying and had asked for him to feel it too. He replied , “Oh, I did, I know it will alright whatever happens!!”

A few minutes later he walked into our bedroom and came back out carrying his wallet, with a "Thank you , Lord!"
Where had it been? In the side pocket of his travel bag - the same place he had hid it the day before.
When we came home from the restaurant he had absent-mindedly taken his wallet out of his pocket and dropped it into his bag but then later panicked when he didn’t find it in his pocket when he was undressing for bed !!
So had I asked the question that popped into my mind when he first thought he had lost it, I would not even have had to leave the comfort of my cozy bed!!

But still God spoke again by filling my mind with peace that all would be well.

I cannot imagine living without the assurance that I have a Great God who not only magnifies Himself in His creation and His voice thunders through it... but that He also comes as my Father and whispers in my heart !!!

“Hast thou an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder with a voice like Him?” (Job 40:9)

“And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voice.” (I Kings 19:12)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Julie, I love the way you tie your experiences into these lessons.

I had to laugh - we had a similar experience years ago while staying at a cabin on a lake. Doc realized his wallet was missing - we had traveled from Texas to his mother's home in Kentucky (spending several days and going many places) and then traveled another couple of hours to meet friends for the weekend at this cabin. When we were unable to find the wallet at the cabin, we "realized" that he had left it at the restaurant where we picked up food to take to the cabin. We made that trip all the way back, searched to no avail, and returned to the cabin in silence (I was pretty angry). Everyone else was out on the boats (our kids included) so we entered an empty cabin. Hanging from a ceiling fan in the middle of the great room was Doc's belt, lashed around his wallet. Our daughter had found it in a side pocket of his briefcase (with about 30 pockets!). Of course, my anger turned to laughter and we enjoyed the rest of our vacation!

James Janzen said...

There is a tightening panic that one feels when one "loses" (misplaces) ones wallet. Generally it is not a great financial loss to lose ones wallet, but yet it can cause great anxiety. Something so simple as changing pants, without transferring the wallet, can cause this anxiety. I did that recently and when i was ok till I got home and checked the pants in the hamper. Looking like a man I missed the wallet, (maybe checked the wrong pants?), and then the anxiety really begins to build.
Doris took out her wallet to show me a receipt one day sitting on a bench outside of costco. She placed the wallet beside her and left it there. Once we realized it was gone she remembered placing it beside her. I called cosco and someone had turned it in.
I'm glad you had a good time. Have a GREAT day!!

Lovella ♥ said...

Oh wow, Julie I could so relate to this post. Who couldn't? I've woken a few times wondering where I last put something.

God is amazing. That still small voice is just such a gift to us. Oh that we would listen with a child's trust.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Oh, isn't it amazing the panics we can get ourselves into! And His assurances to us are just as amazing. I love your story here, and also those photos of great amounts of snow in Whistler!

I enjoyed your "retirement" post too. As a retired person, I'm happy to say I retired from one job, but into a different way of living where I am learning to share much more about what I see and learn of His beauty and workings, and be about His business in that way. My new "job" is much more satisfying and rewarding and hopefully much more productive too, for His kingdom!

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

Wow does Whistler look different than it did last summer!

Demara said...

Thank God for the peace the transcends all understanding! Love Jeff and Demara

(I read this post to Jeff ;)

Nicki said...

This reminds me again that we are all gifted differently. I have often wondered at my ability to remember details like what a person was wearing and phone numbers etc but the fact that I have no idea where I left my wallet or car keys on a daily basis. We have spent many a morning searching for them!! The photos were spectacular. What an amazing world we live in.