The Voice

by Macy Johnson

^“Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

(Isaiah 30:20-21 NIV)

A friend told me about her daily devotions. She allows her Bible to fall open to the place where God wants to speak to her that day. I thought I’d give it a try. My Bible fell open to Isaiah 30. My eyes rested on verses 20 and 21.

I read them over and over, scraping crusty scum off gold… I learn through pain, and the Holy Spirit, my teacher, reveals himself to me minute by minute. He guides me - with a tap on the shoulder (or a whack across my back).

I heard that Voice one evening at a church service - my mother and I went to hear a visiting minister. A few days before, my grandfather had a stroke and was unconscious, in critical condition in the hospital. During the closing prayer, the pastor asked the congregation to think of someone who needed healing. Of course, I thought of Granddaddy. Although my faith in God in my teen years was strong, I was looking for a sign that night that God listened to ME and cared about ME.

As I prayed, I felt a tap on my right shoulder and a presence behind me. It said, “Don’t worry, your grandfather is going to be OK. He is going to wake up and talk and walk around his hospital room.”  I wept with relief and turned to my mother and said, “Granddaddy’s going to be all right.”

My father was at his father’s bedside that evening. When I told him later what happened at the service, he gently brushed me aside, clearly doubtful.

The very next afternoon I came home from school hoping to hear some good news about Granddaddy. The phone rang - my father, calling from the hospital, exclaimed, “Macy, you were right - he woke up today and talked and got out of bed and walked around the room! He’s going to be all right!” Taps on the shoulder still get my attention.

I will continue to listen to the Holy Spirit’s Voice and believe.  I hope you will, too!