Seeing and Hearing God
I recently read the article by Don Doran “ Have you seen God”, it made me really stop and think; have I heard God? Have I seen God? I grew up attending a long list of Baptist churches, and as an adult, I attended for a short while, a local Christian Church, and in the last five years, I attended a Pentecostal Church. I guess you could say, I am a “Show me person” some might call me a church hopper, it is ok because I believe I am being led by the Lord, I feel I am in a learning phase. I am the person who comes to church and sits in the back row, to not be noticed, to quietly absorb the message and to swiftly exist when over. My feelings can easily get hurt and over time I learned to keep to myself. There has always been one outstanding factor in my belief in God, I know for a FACT God can heal and has healed me, not once, but many times. It was the one iota that held my faith together. One night as I attended the local Pentecostal church, sitting in my back row, a guest preacher was asking what do you believe in and he started listing:
Has God ever delivered you?
Has God saved your marriage?
Has God provided for you?
And the list went on….and on…
At this point I was not paying much attention until he said:
HAS GOD EVER HEALED YOU? It was like what he said was magnified, and I jumped a little. This preacher challenged the congregation. He said if God had stepped up and done all these things for us, what could we do for him. And he paused, “He said, “Show him your love, and take a tiny little step into the alter by your pew and simply thank him.” I looked around, I was scared, and I am not the type of person who draws attention to myself. Wasn’t it the least I could do for God, after all, he had done for me? Why was this so hard, my feet felt like they had lead in them? I shakily stood and took the hardest step of my life into the aisle and that step actually set me free. I began to pray and thank the Lord, and everything became so magnified, and as I looked up to the pulpit, I became so excited, I could see a fountain of transparent water flowing downward and I was so excited, because every person before me was being washed in what I have ever since called Living Waters of Grace. I recently submitted a poem on this exact subject. My excitement continued to build, and the water washed over me, and my sin was gone and I was clean! I felt my self-fall to the floor and I was powerless to stop, and down I went, I awoke to a group of people standing over me crying, praying, and speaking in tongues. My first thought was, am I covered decently and as I looked down, my attire was neat and straight. I looked up and this beautiful Saint of God, offered to help me to my feet, and I said that’s ok, and jumped to my feet with strength and vigor, I had when I was twenty. I was healed of sciatic pain, and I felt like I was on fire, not literally, I was on fire for God, I felt like a 220-volt light bulb and I could not turn myself off. I reached up and began to pray to God, to forgive me of my sins, and I received the Holy Ghost, Jesus as my Lord and Savior into my heart and soul. I saw God that night. One thing I learned quickly as a Christian, was that everything will come against you, and in the middle of these storms you have to stand still and just be quiet, God is with you, he is fighting for you. You are being molded, from the shattered pottery you once were, Jesus has claimed you and you are now a work in progress until his return. I was smoking close to three packs of cigarettes a day at my conversion, I had tried everything to stop, nothing worked, not even my daughter begging me to stop. Several weeks later I took it to the altar and specifically said” Lord, I want to stop, I cannot do it by myself, Please the next time I light up a cigarette, let it make me so sick, I never want another one. As soon as church was over, I went to the car and light up my precious cigarette, on puff number three, nausea hit me threefold, and I began to gag and spew, and “Yes, I really did get so sick” LOL. God is so good, when I left that parking lot that day, I had indeed smoked my last cigarette and have never craved one, had nicotine fit or desired a cigarette. God had delivered me and set me free from smoking, what I could not do on my own, with God’s help, smoking was defeated. God had heard me as I had heard him in my deliverance.
Lastly, I went through this horrible phase where I felt so unloved, it was as if the enemy was trying to steal my joy, my husband had left me, I was at odds with my teenage daughter and I felt so very alone. Nearly every night I would read my bible, cry and go to sleep, I did not feel my peace anymore, nor did I feel joy, and my 220 –volt light bulb had blown out, I was lost and despondent, and I feel asleep, as I slept I dreamed beautiful dreams, in one dream I awoke in a beautiful green pasture, with vivid blue mountains surrounding me, and as I got up to walk, I felt the presence of someone walking beside me, and as I looked, I saw a white robe, and a hand came down, I held his hand and we walked and talked, I was reassured, and I felt peace return, in another dream I saw a dove spiraling at me with a twig in his mouth and almost at the moment he should have collided with me, the dove stopped turned his head so gently, his feathers were so white and so velvety soft, I looked deep into his eye and saw a love so powerful, so pure, my breath stopped, and I instantly knew I was immensely loved by God, that he loved us all this way, unconditionally. The Love was so pulling, so beautiful, it is so hard to describe, and I felt wrapped in that love. It is the foundation I stand on today. So yes, I have seen God, and it is what holds me and gives me strength, hope, joy, and faith, with immeasurable love not just for me, for everyone, all you have to do is believe in God and you will experience seeing and hearing Him too.
God Bless, and special thanks to Pastor Doran for your wonderful article.
