There are so many ways that we can recognise and respond to the voice of God. It has taken me years to understand that we can just know. When you know you know. It’s when our ‘knower’ knows that something will happen, or our ‘knower’ just knows that something is true. We can perceive (we can know) in the same way that Jesus perceived (or knew) the thoughts of the crowd when he sets the demoniac man free (Luke 5:22-23*).
The first time I knew I knew, was when we were first married.
Andrew had gone out to buy fish and chips for dinner. It was a warm Friday night, and we decided on a rare treat for the evening meal.
Andrew came home with our meal and as we opened our food, we saw there were three pieces of fish and an overabundance of chips.
‘We have enough to feed a tribe,’ I said, laughing.
‘B must be coming for dinner!’
Andrew laughed with me, and we shrugged off the thought as we started our meal.
B was a long-term friend. He had the habit of eating off our plates at restaurants, feeling no compunction about diving in and sharing a dessert that we had bought to share between ourselves on our tight budget.
We adored B. He was loveable, but this habit of his was irritating.
As a young, married couple, such treats were few and far between. I found such acts of sheer gall quite confronting, especially given my upbringing. Whereas B had no issue with fork diving my food whenever he saw something on my plate that took his fancy. This was something I did not even really enjoy my husband doing at the most loving of times, let alone a young single male friend.
I certainly did not have the view of what was mine was for everybody else to share from my plate.
It was in this framework that I saw the abundant supply this evening and had a laugh. I was a baby Christian, and did not know how God spoke, how He provided, or how I could recognise His voice in my life. This was to be the start of my training in words of knowledge – or knowing that you know, you know. The operation of prophecy through perceiving a thing.
As we started our food, the front doorbell suddenly rang.
Andrew and I stopped mid-bite and looked at each other.
I got chills.
‘Surely not!’ I said.
‘It can’t be!’ Andrew said, as he got up.
Sure enough – it was B!
We welcomed him in (me feeling a little guilty I had just made fun of his food forking habit) and I quietly thanked God for the abundant supply that I could offer to my dear friend.
A fun story.
An interesting story.
A story that clearly shows how God can speak through external circumstances. A story that shows how our knower can know and if we learn to lean into those knowings and take note, we can learn to know how we know and as we do, we will taste and see that…
God is Good!
*Luke 5:22-23
Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? (NIV)
But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? (NKJV)
(Emphasis added)
© Beth Kennedy 2023