There’s a common misconception that God always speaks in an otherworldly manner—that’s how we know it’s God. Right? Like Thunder, His voice booms and comes from the sky. It’s occasionally mysterious but always mystical. Sometimes it startles the listener and typically is life changing.

Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus is the perfect biblical example (Acts 9: 3 -9). It was a life changing moment in Saul’s life and in Christianity as he was transformed into the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9: 13-19).

The more we walk the spiritual journey, the more we realize that Paul’s mystical experience on the road to Damascus is a sideshow in the history of spirituality. So are the experiences of people like Francis of Assisi hearing a voice from the crucifix in the Church of San Damiano, Joan of Arc getting instructions from deceased Saints, Patrick of Ireland being guided by voices to return to his homeland as a missionary for the Christian faith, Bernadette Soubirous seeing the vision of Mary in a grotto of Lourdes, and many others. Otherworldly, mystical, and impressive as these experiences are, they can easily distract us from the more common ways that God speaks to us. What are those more common ways?

Physical Dimension

God uses our physical surroundings. Things in nature—like September’s harvest moon, a Bald Eagle floating in the sky, an evening breeze as we walk in the heat of the summer, a blooming cactus — might bring a reminder of God’s abiding presence and longing for us. The frustration we experience at our job site might be God’s challenge to surrender and trust or to look for different employment. A hand outstretched for alms, a crying infant, or a stranger with a flat tire is God’s way of moving us beyond our ego obsessions and deepening our spirituality: our surrender, sacrifice, and service.

Mental Dimension

God can speak through the inner life of the mind. Have you ever been prompted to do something that seemingly came out of nowhere and turned out to be exactly what needed to be done? Ever have a hunch or intuition that turned out to be exactly right? God sometimes nudges us to action through thoughts that just pop into our heads.

God sometimes uses our imagination to heal us of childhood traumas, to enthusiastically invite us to a deeper relationship, or to strengthen our resolve for a particular task. God has spoken to many people as they pray a form of imaginative prayer in which they place themselves in a Gospel scene and sense their reaction to Jesus’s ministry. Read example in:

Approaching the Throne in Imaginative Prayer

Dreams as a manifestation of the unconscious and correctly interpreted, can offer insight into our present situation or an impending decision. Read example in:

What No One Tells You About Your Dreams

Though some people disparage such communication as being of their own making, the fact is God can and does speak to us by directing our thoughts and using our minds. Following is another example told to me by a friend:

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At different times in life and in certain situations I find myself worrying about things, as I’m sure many of us do.  Recently, I had some things on my mind and was doing what I do best – worrying. I went to bed with thoughts rolling around in my head while praying and talking to God. In the early morning hours, He woke me up saying “You have My strength.”   I heard Him very clearly and thought what does that mean, I have God’s strength? As I lay there thinking about God telling me that I have His strength, I wondered why He woke me up to tell me this.

I realized that frequently, when I pray to God, that I do all the talking. He often answers me when I am at rest and not talking. In my relationship with God, I am learning to be quiet after my prayers and just listen.

I have learned that God’s strength is a shield from the feelings of fear and anxiety that we face in this life, and I am thankful to have Him with me as I make this journey. I want His Strength.

When we fully put our trust in Him – He walks alongside us.

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Notice that my friend, because of her mindfulness, didn’t question God’s guidance or presence but accepted and learned from it.

Spiritual Dimension

Many of us are familiar with the way God speaks through our commitment to spiritual formation.

• The Old Testament aligns our lives with the 10 commandments and God’s covenant.
• In the sermon on the mount, Jesus, God’s saving Word made flesh, stretches us to a heartfelt spirituality of surrender, sacrifice, and service.
• The letters of the New Testament offer us insight into living in a community of believers saved through God’s ardent longing for us.
• The Book of Revelation offers hope in times of persecution.
• Sacred tradition, through the help of the Holy Spirit, teaches us how to interpret and give flesh to God’s word in our contemporary world.
• The church, as a community of believers, offers us encouragement by reminding us that we are family.
• In worship services, God touches us through sermons and hymns.
• And in personal prayer, God calls us to our vocations, confronts our ego obsessions, challenges our desires, consoles us at various times, and instills confidence in us.

Social Dimension

God speaks to us through our relationships and social commitments: “For when two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18: 20). God calls some people to the single life through their commitment to family and friends; God calls some people to marriage by sending a special person into their lives who sparks the flame of selfless love; God calls still others to ministry or religious life by having a family member, friend, or pastor suggests the idea.

A coworkers challenging word might be God’s way of calling us to repentance; a confidants pat on the back might be God’s encouragement; a child’s joy might be a sign of divine delight; an elderly parents lingering with an incurable disease might be God’s way of offering extra time for reconciliation.

Conclusion

God speaks to us day in, day out, through the human dimensions of our everyday routine and humdrum lives. Our challenge is to be attentive to this divine voice, discern its message and meaning right here, right now, and then respond in an appropriate manner. “Thy will be done.” The mundane and ordinary are charged with the mystical and other-worldly for those who live with mindfulness.

The following posts describe mindful experiences of God’s communications:

“This is not Your Day to Die.”

How God Speaks to the Brokenhearted

The Joy of Loving a Little Girl

God’s Voice Told Me to Help

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Reference

Becoming an Ordinary Mystic; Spirituality for the Rest of Us by Albert Haase, OFM