Hearing God’s Mighty Whisper

I am reminded that Jesus knows our every need, hears our pleas, and sees our struggles. He is eager to help and rescue. He works in mysterious ways and uses the unlikeliest of people to accomplish His plan, no matter how great or small. Awareness and the willingness to be open to Spirit allows Him to use us, to involve us, so that we may help and heal others.

Isn’t that why we are here—to help and heal, to tell God’s story, and to give Him glory? I think so. I encourage you to practice awareness. Pay attention to the subtle undertones throughout your day. That is where the magic is. There is where what really matters resides. You just need to be intentional and pay attention.

Often, Spirit has used visual snapshots to communicate to me while I worked as a bed-side nurse. One day, I was working in the emergency department. It was a typical busy day, with a million things happening at once. A coworker came up to me and stated he wasn’t feeling well. This coworker was someone with whom I often worked. He was a gruff type and sometimes an-noying, but every so often, he showed a kind side that would make all the other characteristics tolerable. On this day, even his “off” seemed off. When he told me he wasn’t feeling well, I re-member stopping to look at him, to “tune in” to him. I immediately saw a snapshot in my mind of his vessels. This might sound creepy, but I’m a nurse, so anything can pop in. His vessels wanted me to see his blood. His blood appeared extremely thick, moving slow, almost like syrup. The syrup was the issue. I related it to pancake syrup, thick and full of sugar. I asked him if he was diabetic. He answered no, but my knowing told me his blood was full of sugar. I started asking him questions.

“Has your vision been blurry? Have you been extra thirsty? Have you been urinating in excess? Have you felt tired?” His answers were yes, yes, yes, yes. He was about to check in a new patient. I told him I would do it and asked him to check his blood with the Accu-Chek (a blood-glucose testing meter) on the counter. He agreed. I told him I would meet him back here in five minutes. When I came back, he was waiting for me and showed me his results. The Accu-Chek reading said “high,” which meant the results were too high to register a value. He was a diabetic. That whole thing took minutes as well. From there, he was admitted and examined, his blood was drawn, and he became a patient. His blood sugar results were 450. He was very sick. The good news is he was able to get the proper treatment and help. He is doing well and is back to work. I am grateful and always amazed by the Spirit’s interventions.

Our part is to be aware. We need to be mindful and intentional to ask, wait, and see if there is a message to be heard. If we ignore little cues or just dismiss the messages in our every-day lives, we will miss the real stuff, the important stuff, the stuff that matters—help, healing, and hope that we can offer to people when we listen and hear. When we learn this, then we can share and teach others, and then they can share and teach.

A gift for the others,

To believe in another,

To help and heal,

To promote others,

To cheer them on,

To love,

To share God’s story,

To give God glory.

So far, I have shared how Spirit speaks to me through vision. But Spirit also speaks to me through hearing. I can’t be sure if it is actually audible with my physical ears—I don’t think so—but at times I have heard a whisper or even a voice. I can’t tell exactly where it is coming from, but my best sense is it is just behind my right ear. I have often turned my head to the right at times, thinking or reactively expecting to see someone, but no one has been there. Sometimes, it feels like the whisper is inside my head. Regardless, the whispers usually start with my name. This, of course, gets my attention, and then the whispers will often continue to speak.

An example of this occurred, again, while working in my busy emergency room. I was busy with my own patients, with rushing and chaos all around. I remember standing at the medi-cation dispenser machine, checking out meds for my patient, when I heard the whisper behind my right ear. It said, “Jodi.” I immediately tuned in to hear what would come next. I heard, “Pay attention.” I wondered to what exactly, then sensed it was something around me. I continued getting my patients’ meds when I was suddenly acutely tuned in to a conversation going on around the nurses’ station. It was another nurse and doctor talking about starting treatment on a patient. The plan included an insulin bolus, an IV insulin drip, and admission. Then they men-tioned her age, seventy-four. A new-onset diabetic at age seventy-four got my attention. It seemed strange. At that moment, my tech was walking by, and I asked him who they were talk-ing about. He said, room 7. I took a few steps sideways to peek into the room. I saw an elderly woman. She was thin and looked to be in good physical shape. She looked fit and healthy. She had perfect hair and makeup. She did not look diabetic. She was holding a vomit bag. I heard the whisper again: “Flu.” I immediately had the sense she was not a new-onset diabetic but simply was dehydrated with the flu.