The Voice of God, Part 1

Have you ever heard the voice of God?

If you are familiar with stories from early religious text such as the Holy Bible, you probably remember stories in which God speaks directly to people. Perhaps you have wondered why God was so vocal in early human history while we don’t seem to hear much from him today.

I believe the simplest answer is that we are not listening. One of the many gifts we have been given in this life is that of free will. God speaks to us only when we choose to listen. If we are open to the message of God, we will see it everywhere.

God speaks to us through the voices of others, through events we consider coincidental, through feelings, meditation and written text. God’s will is never truly hidden from us.

God’s Voice In My Life

Earlier this year, a former business associate asked me to do some freelance work for him. At first I resisted, having a full time job, a family and a home to take care of, I believed I did not have the time. However, after talking to my wife, we decided that it would be worth a try, so I did.

Several months later, I stumbled on a article by Steve Pavlina on procrastination while looking for a different article. Deeply impressed by his words, I read more of his articles and tried many of his suggestions in my life. One specific suggestion that struck me was that it may be necessary to quit my job to move forward.

At first, I thought it seemed rather extreme. I had not previously considered leaving my job and didn’t entertain the idea until a couple months later when I happened upon a copy of Dr. Wayne Dyer’s Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling. I had no idea who Dr. Dyer was at the time, but my wife borrowed this audio book from her boss because she thought it looked interesting.

I was immediately drawn to his words, and my life literally began to transform. Many of the ideas that Steve Pavlina expressed were also expressed by Dr. Dyer. In particular, he suggested that sometimes a change in career is necessary in order to achieve spiritual growth.

Suddenly, I was hearing that same message everywhere I went. And suddenly, the nature of my job had changed to the point where it was no longer interesting to me. In the meantime, I was exploring the world of blogging as a way to grow spiritually and to network with others.

I decided to quit my job and become a freelance software developer and to start this blog. Not because it was something I had always wanted to do. In fact, several months earlier, I had never considered it. It became overwhelmingly clear to me that everything in my life was pointing me in this direction. God was waving his hand in front of my face saying, “Hey, I’m talking to you. It’s time for a change in direction.”

Everything Falls Into Place

On my last day of my previous job, my wife called me to tell me it was her last day as well. Based on some unusual circumstances, she and her boss had mutually agreed to eliminate her position. Now, we are both unemployed with a child, a house payment and health insurance that will be discontinued in a couple of weeks.

To avoid an overwhelmingly long story, I’m going to continue this story in tomorrow’s post and talk about how this website seems to be fitting in with God’s plan for my life. In short, everything is falling into place in ways I had not predicted. It is clear to me today that my choice to listen to God’s voice has brought me further than years of analyzing and planning with my intellect.