The Catholic Writers Guild

Hearing God’s Voice in Unexpected Ways

I am savvy regarding computer programs, social media sites, and internet surfing. Recently, I found a new feature on my cell phone that allows me to create stickers from photographs. I found joy quickly when I made stickers of the dog and began to share them. I only recently realized this feature has been around for a long time. A little deflated that my discovery was old news, I didn’t let it steal my joy and continue to play with it today.

The other day, as I was digging through photographs for sticker making, I stumbled upon a short video I had captured a few days earlier. I had been sitting at my desk, and out the window, I saw one lonely leaf on the tree, literally wiggling side to side. As a butterfly lover, I thought it was a very large chrysalis. Jumping out of my chair, I reached for the binoculars, quickly discovering a rolled-up leaf had remained after the tree lost its leaves for fall.

I am obsessed with caterpillars and butterflies, so my perception is, in a sense, tainted. Anyone else looking at that tree would have seen a leaf blowing in the wind. I, however, had an inside scoop. Only a few months earlier, I had witnessed a considerable caterpillar making its way up the most extended branch. Still, it never dawned on me that it was winter and the butterflies had transformed many months ago. Since I am currently working on a project writing about bugs and caterpillars, I chalk up the vision I saw to divine inspiration! After all, my first book began with a caterpillar clutching a leaf as a storm erupted around it.

I should also note one other important aspect of my leaf video. In the moment I recorded, the sky was dark and gray. Yet, when I watched it back, a small area of light appeared, proof in my eyes this was a Holy Spirit-filled moment. Always in tune with how God communicates to me, I knew there was a reason I was so captivated by the leaf in the wind.

Because I am a woman of faith, open to the promptings of the Spirit, my perception is programmed to view the light in the video as God’s whisper. However, anyone else looking through the same lens and watching the same video could pick up the reflection of the ceiling light bouncing off the window.

Another example is how we perceive God’s fluffy clouds in the sky. There have been days when I’ve seen things like a bunny, a vintage feather pen, a replica of the Ark, etc. Someone else looking at those same puffy clouds probably wouldn’t see them as I do. That doesn’t mean my perception is wrong. It all depends on how God has conditioned my eyes to see what He has placed on my path.

The stirrings in my heart and the knowledge of God’s presence are all I needed to convince myself of an experience of a Spirit-filled moment. Circumstances have trained me to expect God to show up and do big and small things. The instance in the tree is one of those small things, but it may have a more significant impact someday.

Going to scripture, I reflect on Luke 24:13-15, when the disciples walked the road to Emmaus. Because they had witnessed the death of Jesus, they did not expect him to be on their path. God had closed their eyes at that moment, but their perception was also conditioned by what they had experienced earlier.

When we are consistently open to the promptings of the Spirit, God can and will do big things. He will set the scene right when He has something to show or share with you. How you perceive it all depends on your willingness to let God in. It might be something that only you can see or something others think is entirely absurd—these are the moments when you stop and pay attention. God is most likely speaking to you and only to you!

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Copyright 2024 Kimberly Novak
Images: Canva