“And when he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels, who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day.”
Ezekiel 2:2-3 (RSV)
In almost every example in scripture where God spoke to a human being, it was for the purpose of sending them to another person or a group of people. God is sovereign and all powerful, He can do anything, but He has a history of sending people to reach people.
This is a true story about a man named Jim, who heard God’s voice in sending him somewhere, long before he became a priest. When he was a young man, driving home from his job at a restaurant, around 11:30 at night, he heard an audible voice telling him to go to a certain friend’s house. He knew God was speaking to him, but he started explaining that it was too late, and that his friend’s parents would be angry at him, for disturbing the family. The voice firmly told him two more times, to go to his friend’s house, and so he finally did.
When he arrived, the parents were very welcoming, despite the late time of night and his friend was also happy to see him. He spent time sitting in his friend’s man cave in the basement of their home, as they reminisced memories of their days in the church youth group.
When he prepared to leave, after visiting for an hour, his friend asked him why he came over that night. Jim told him that he came because God told him to. At that moment, his friend invited him to come look inside his bathroom, where a noose was hanging. He had been planning to kill himself that very night.
Not only was a tragedy averted, but God revealed His love to that young man, by sending his friend to him at the perfect time. His visit turned his life back on path, and confirmed God’s love for him.
There is not one desperate or depressed heart, that God doesn’t see and take note of. God considers His church, the body of Christ on earth, and He chooses to use each of us to reach others, as Jesus would.
I can imagine all the miracle interventions that could happen if every believer heard and obeyed the voice of God like that.
That story also hits close to home for me. When I was in my early twenties I had a fun and easy job as a furniture showroom manager in the Merchandise Mart of Chicago. A major event to look forward to was their annual furniture show, when the nation’s sales reps and bosses all come into town, to have a party in the showroom. The purpose was to display the newest products while all the company’s salespeople came together.
At that party, I felt a strange prompting to speak to a particular salesman who was seated near me, but I was too wrapped up in myself at the time, and ignored that inner voice, which I now know was God’s.
About three weeks later I received tragic news that the salesman sitting near me had committed suicide by jumping off a balcony. I felt both heart broken and guilt ridden. God tries over and over to use us to be His voice, His eyes or His hands, with the people that cross our path through life. We could find such great satisfaction in hearing and responding to God’s voice, but I regret that I didn’t respond to it on that day.
I cannot go back in time, but that experience changed me in some way, and now I see every person God brings my way, with divine purpose.
Last weekend, an older man in his eighties started talking to me in a home improvement store. When he shared that he was a Greek immigrant, I told him that my father was also. After asking me questions, he was so thrilled that he knew the town in Greece that my father was from. His name is Nick and he talked to me for 15 minutes, and before we parted, he told me that I made his day.
I have no idea what the significance of that meeting was, or how I made Nick’s day, but I’m sure God knows.
Everyone we know or meet briefly in life’s journey is part of a divine plan and purpose that only heaven fully understands. Now, I try to see the providence of God in each day’s interactions with people.
God is writing life stories, and as He brings people into our lives, our role is simply to be who we are meant to be. By following His voice within us, and responding to the prompting of His Spirit, someone’s destiny will change for the better. Our response may be through the words we say, prayers we pray, or just listening to what someone else has to say.
God always has a divine plan and an abundance of grace, with mercy to forgive and help us start over again, even when we fail.
Lord, help us to live each day with a renewed consciousness of our divine purpose, and to share your love with every person you bring our way. Amen