The Holy Spirit’s voice, over time, becomes more and more clear
and recognizable. In a variety or combination of ways, He willingly
confirms His instructions, such as through serendipitous
circumstances that line up either to open up or close an
opportunity; or the affirmation of those who know me well, through
the verses in my regular daily Bible reading, or through an internal
peace that allows me to complete a transaction or make a decision
without reservation. And until I’m sure of His will, He does not scold
me for asking for clarification.When the Holy Spirit speaks to me, I’ve learned to listen
intentionally because I know that He knows me better than
anyone else, and He can save me from getting hurt, even from
hurting myself.
Have you ever gotten a traffic ticket? In California, we get
issued a violation for “rolling” through a stop sign—not
making a complete stop, usually in residential areas where
there are pedestrians.
Twice a month, I travel the same shortcut through a
neighborhood and roll through the final stop sign before
arriving at my appointment. On one particular afternoon, upon
making my usual “California roll,” and before I had even turned
the corner, a motorcycle cop was at my window.
His first question was “What does PRAAAAA mean?” My
license plate was a gift from a former employee that she
purchased thinking it would identify me in one word: PRAY.
Only the word PRAY wasn’t enough characters for a California
license plate, so she spelled it out with five long AAAAA’s.
I’m sure you can imagine how pleasant an experience it is to tell
a policeman who has pulled you over that your “word for the
day” is PRAY. Needless to say, I got a $175 ticket and had to
go to traffic school for eight hours. Not fun.