I made an appointment with a woman in our church who has gone and is going through some difficult life-situations but seems to keep a sweet, strong faith about her. I made the appointment.
I went over to talk to Alta Ruth. I was supposed to have written questions, I didn't. I wanted her to talk. What was hard? Life...Jesus...God's voice...His silence in her live. That is what I expected to hear. AND I did hear about the challenges she faced.
She shared many things and then, with no question to prompt her, she began to speak of memorizing scripture. She told me it was hard for her...I was so excited because that is what I have thought and had given up on even trying. Then, she said, "For years I believed the enemy that I could not memorize scripture." WHAT? The enemy would stop someone from memorizing the Word. She went on to explain that she and her husband began the memory work with Psalm 139:1 - 22! But I can't memorize my heart screamed...why did you bring this up? It didn't take long to realize that through her words, Jesus was speaking directly to one of my weaknesses. 
Later a friend asked if she could meet with me to fulfill the class' assignment. I met with her over coffee and she had her questions too. One of the first...another challenge. When do you do devotions and how does that look? I had to confess that my devotional life had been lacking lately. I explained that I had to have complete silence and so for me, the best time was in the morning before Steve got up. Then I had to confess that I had been staying in bed instead of getting up. That became a renewed goal...to find time each day for a quiet time with the creator of the universe and the lover of my soul.
Another call from another friend (and classmate)....could she meet with me. I knew that I could be a help for her and.....guess what...every question she asked challenged me and spoke directly to my weaknesses or the very thing that I was struggling with. At this point, I began to see (for I can be very dense which is why it took 3 people to do God's bidding) that the meetings were not merely assignments for the class but God's opportunity to speak directly into my life.
Each day we have amazing opportunity to see and listen to the very thoughts of God. It is what we do with them that is important. We can see his handiwork in nature that can cause us to fall before Him and worship His creative handiwork. It could be from a friend who makes a seemingly insignificant comment or question that could cause us to reevaluate our lives or challenge us. We just have to be open to what He is telling us.So what did this do for me? I am challenged in many ways. One is to follow the leading of what God was trying to tell me with memory work and intentional quiet times and to realize the goals that I have set for my relationships in my life should be reevaluated. I learned that there are no questions or answers that should be off limits but should be able to be opened for others to see the struggles that I am going through are not unique to them. The other is to realize by each of us, what draws others to us is the strengths that they see in us BUT they need to see the leaks in our earthen vessels. They need to see and hear about the struggles that we have.
What started out as an assignment for my class, turned into a divine appointment! Does God speak? Oh yes! We just have to listen, not to the earthquake or the violent windstorm or the blazing fire but from the quiet whispers that surround us when we quiet ourselves before Him and allow Him full reign in our lives.
