HEARING JESUS’ VOICE IN THE CHAOS OF OUR PAIN

Have you ever felt incapable of hearing God’s voice at times when you most needed to? Have you wondered if it’s because you’ve become deaf or he’s gone mute…or both?

I was asked to speak on “Hearing Jesus’ Voice in the Chaos of Our Pain” for a conference in Wisconsin last week. As I began to work on this difficult subject, I discovered that I couldn’t do it justice without exploring the joys and trauma of my five decades on earth, and how they impacted my ability to truly trust and connect with the Divine. Though some of the details are specific to me, many of the truths I discuss are universal, culminating in a reflection on what allows me to better hear God now. .

If you’ve walked this road too, I’d love for you to go on this journey with me. Click play on the audio bar below to listen here or head to my Pondering Purple Podcast to listen there. It’s available on all pod platforms and you can subscribe to be notified when new episodes release.

I’ll post below some of the slides I used in my PowerPoint presentation—in case they explain some of the responses you hear in the background on the recording!

See text beneath pictures to understand where they fit in the talk.

⇧ The “yay” duck and the “yuck” duck ⇧

THE YOUNG YEARS

⇧ The castle I grew up in, in Lamorlaye, France ⇧ 

⇧ The French school system yielded fear and pessimism ⇧ 

⇧ Some of the statements I was hearing from the Voice of Pain ⇧

HIGH SCHOOL YEARS

⇧ “Let’s be honest, this is the kind of athlete I was…” ⇧

⇧ The way I’d come to view God ⇧

⇧ Some of the statements I was hearing from the Voice of Pain ⇧

THE COLLEGE YEARS

⇧ Some of the statements I was hearing from the Voice of Pain ⇧

THE EARLY MISSIONARY YEARS

⇧ Teaching at Black Forest Academy for twenty years ⇧ 

⇧ Some of the statements I was hearing from the Voice of Pain ⇧

⇧ The Voices of Pain were becoming debilitating ⇧

THE HEALING YEARS

⇧ It felt like every hardship had added a stone to my life’s statue ⇧

⇧ Expressions of honest emotions we read in the Bible ⇧

⇧ God as I had imagined him ⇧

⇧ The images with which I needed to replace the pictures of an angry God in my mind ⇧ 

⇧ Words I now hear from the Voice of Truth ⇧ ⇧ Words I can count on even when I don’t hear Jesus’ voice ⇧ 

Please join the conversation!

• • Contribute your thoughts in the comments section below
  • Use the social media links to Like and Share this article
  • Many of these articles are now available in podcast form. Simply search for “Pondering Purple” on your usual pod platforms, or click this link to be taken to its host page
  • To subscribe to this blog, email michelesblog@gmail.com and write “subscribe” in the subject line
  • Pick up Of Stillness and Storm (my novel about a missionary calling gone awry) on Amazon