Discernment & Hearing Tim’s Voice
My friend Tim died suddenly. He was 35. I was with him two weeks prior, joking around, pushing, poking. Then his heart stopped beating and he was gone. I will never see him again on this earth.
After his death, I was struggling with the decision of whether or not to attend his funeral or a Christian leadership conference that was coming up the same weekend. We were going to be taking a friend with us to the conference who tried to commit suicide two weeks before. As I contemplated the decision, weighing in my mind were things like being judged by other people for not going, and disappointing others if I decided to go and miss part of the conference instead.
While battling with it in my hotel room, I heard, Tim say as clear as a bell in my head, “Rach, of course you need to go the conference, don’t worry about me.”
And that was that. My decision was made. Other people’s opinion’s aside, I knew what I needed to do.
Because I knew Tim, I knew his heart, I knew his passion, I knew his calling in life. Because I touched him, and heard his voice, and saw his face. Because I knew the inflection he used when he spoke, and the shape his mouth made when it formed words, and the expressions his eyes gave when he told a story…. I knew what he would want me to do in that situation.
And then it dawned on me, that’s how well I need to know and recognize God’s voice. I want it to be that clear and unquestionable. I never want to doubt again when I hear a directive: is this from God, or is this from my head?
So how do I get to hearing His voice that clearly? By getting to know God as intimately as I knew my friend Tim. To know His heart, and his desires for me – which is always what’s best for me.
As I pondered all of this, for the first time in my life “discernment” clicked for me. I made a revelation I can never unmake. Really truly being able to hear from and follow God’s Voice became a little more believable for me, and I have a clear mission and plan on how to get to that place.
Even after he left the earth, my friend Tim is still teaching me new things.
[January 2014]