As I was preparing an Advent lesson for children, something based on Mary and Gabriel, I remembered a testimony shared recently by Tony, a casual acquaintance of two or three years.

Tony, speaking before a casual gathering in a church basement, mentioned that he once heard the voice of God while praying. He was at a challenging point in his life and spent a weekend end in New York. It was an encouraging weekend, a connective weekend.

His return flight began in a gray day in New York, but the plane ascended and pierced the cloud, allowing sunlight to fill the passenger section of his plane. Tony felt the sun as he was praying.

“Pure gratitude,” is how he described his prayer.

And in the light, in the prayer, Tony heard God tell him, “Follow me.  And I will make you a fisher of men.”

And Tony has followed, sharing a powerful testimony that includes the voice of God.

And I wondered, “Why don’t I get to hear the voice of God?” I pray. I pray with gratitude. I’ve been challenged. I’ve needed His Light.

Not a complaint! More of a curiosity, a theological riddle. Who gets to hear the voice of God? Why?

Mary heard the voice of God through Gabriel.  I wonder, was she praying? Was it sunny? Was she, like Tony, full of gratitude in the moments before God spoke to her?

My favorite part of this passage in Luke 1 is when Gabriel tells Mary that Elizabeth, her relative is pregnant.   She’s a minor character in a story.

Luke tells us that Mary “hurried” to see Elizabeth. And after some time with Elizabeth, she writes her beautiful psalm: “My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior … “

God was speaking to Mary through Elizabeth just as He was speaking through Gabriel. The older woman surely provided practical insights into the challenges of pregnancy, as well as spiritual, emotional comfort in Mary’s times of anxiety and uncertainty. Gabriel left the story, but God continued the conversation with Mary.

So, as I will tell the children when we talk about Mary, God speaks to all of us. He puts people in our lives who share His Love and His Light and His Strength.

Tony was in a place of “pure gratitude” because of the people he met on his weekend in New York. They included him and listened to him and encouraged him. That was also God’s voice speaking to Tony.

I hear God and see God and understand God through the people in my life, through church family, through the children and youth, through adults who walk with me, through youth, through children, through pastors, through the praise band, through their emails and text messages, to their responses to my emails and text messages.

And my response to His voice in all those places is always the same: pure gratitude … my soul rejoices in God my Savior.    

(Photo by Bill Utterback)