I had often heard others speak of intimacy with God. But, it wasn't until this wintry day a couple of years ago that I was given a glimpse of the depth of this intimacy God wants with us. Things in my life were not going terrible but, it was a time when there seem to be several nagging things happening all at the same time and my thoughts were focused on the many, what seemed to be, unanswered prayers, I'd been praying for years. My prayers for healing, loved ones to return to serving the Lord, financial breakthroughs for families, broken marriages and wayward children seemed to be falling upon deaf ears. I knew in my mind this really wasn't true but I was discouraged. Some of these situations appeared to be doomed without the Lords intervention and my heart was heavy. Several months prior during a time of prayer this saying came to my mind, " hear me with your eyes"! I repeated this over and over and wrote it down in my journal. For months these same words repeatedly came into my prayer time, "hear me with your eyes". Then several weeks later, "hear me with your eyes, see me with your ears" ! My heart quickened as I sought out my journal once again to jot down this phrase or what maybe was a parable. Did Jesus still teach in parable's? What did these words mean? Ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated by birds. I just love watching them and the fact that their existence depends totally on God's daily provision just is amazing to me. On this gloomy wintry day traveling through the long twisting drive that led to my mother's apartment, within the senior community, my daughter and I were engaged in conversation when out of the side of my eye I saw something red flash by us. I reached to turn the music down, as I slowed and swerved slightly to the right side of the road. I looked up into the bare tree branches, searching in the direction of this red flash of color. There it was! The biggest and reddest cardinal I think I've ever seen! Oh, he looked so magnificent against the dark black and grey bark of that barren looking tree! But wait, whats that? Oh, wow here comes another one, and she sits right next to him. For a female she looks almost as bold in color as he, but you can tell she is the girl. My eyes are glued and my heart is beating so hard and so fast and my spirit man knows my Lord has something to say! Just then from the same direction as the first comes yet another and another cardinal! Both take their place near the first two and before they even get settled two more come to join them. I'm also a amateur photographer, and my thoughts are racing between knowing this is a moment of significance to thinking how much I wished I'd brought my camera. Then out of nowhere I spot this bird of bright yellow with an orange beak picking his place on the branches of the tree right next to the cardinals! At this point I am praying, Oh Holy Spirit, give me understanding of what You are showing me, when more of these yellow birds come join the first. I sat in complete amazement gazing at this site, feeling incredibly blessed to have been driving through there at that moment to see it. Right then in my spirit I hear " this isn't by accident, this is for you". For me? What does that mean? I'm still gazing into the trees when I hear my daughter tell me to drive away, "an old man is trying to open my door"! Sure enough when I look back an elderly man who lived in the community must have thought I was pulled over for him and he was trying to get in our car. I politely waved to him and proceeded on our way. Throughout the rest of the day I thought about what I'd seen and prayed continually for the Lord to give me wisdom. It was several days later when I opened my journal right to the page with the phrase given to me in the months prior. I'd not even considered the two could be connected. But, as I read the phrase again the vision of all those birds came flooding back to my mind as if I was seeing it for the first time. The revelation of all of this didn't come to me in one full swoop, but little by little the Lord spoke into my heart, showing me what it was He was speaking to me. The first thing being just how personal our Father is- God could have used any number of things to speak to me but he chose something He knew would get my attention, something he knows I love to watch. The birds! I had been asking to hear His voice in response to all the many situations I'd been praying for when I first heard " hear me with your eyes". Here I was driving through a place that appeared lifeless and barren when within the wisp of a second God brought magnificent color. This was exactly how I was seeing these many situations I was praying for, lifeless and barren, without hope. God in His great desire for us to be intimate with Him showed me how deep he knows my heart, how deeply he knows me. He spoke to me through allowing my eyes to fall upon His wonder. Even in the middle of all that appeared to be barren and hopeless, just as the situations I had been praying for, my faithful Father brought gorgeous color, full of life! The Lord revealed that even though some of these situations looked as if they were dying, just as the ground below the winters cold, there lies life just waiting to reveal itself in the spring. We may not always see what the Lord is up to, but if we look around us, we can always see and hear His heart for us. Open your eyes today and hear God's voice and allow Him to show you just how deeply he loves you and wants for you to seek intimacy in our relationship with Him.
I hope and pray my story has inspired you to seek and serve the Lord. If you would like to dig deeper with more stories of inspiration, hop over to the Proverb 31 Ministries site where you will find links to many blogs full of encouragement for your faith to grow.
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May God Bless,
