Did you ever wonder if God was speaking to you, and, if so, wonder what was He saying? I have. I heard a statement over fifty years ago that at times has been like a verbal earworm. On one level I understood it. On another I’ve always felt that maybe God was using it to tell me something, but I still don’t know what.
 
 It was my senior year of college, and I and two friends were sharing an “apartment”. The apartment consisted of half of an old country store; our landlords lived in the other half. Like many old buildings the floor sagged in places, and the wiring and plumbing were suspect. The ceiling consisted of those old shaped, painted tin squares that old buildings used to have. The property also contained a small old house (that used to be our landlords’ home), a garage that had been converted to living space, and a small trailer park (three or four sites). Our landlord was disabled, and our landlady only worked part-time so that most of their income came from these rentals; the rents were cheap and it appeared that they were not very prosperous.

There was a porch along the entire front of the building. Our landlords spent much of their time on the porch, at least in reasonable weather. They sometimes read or listened to the radio, but usually they just sat drinking – mostly beer, sometimes whiskey. They were good-hearted country folk, well-liked by their neighbors, and were always very nice to us. Sometimes when we came home from classes we would sit and visit with them on the porch. On one such occasion, sort of out of the blue, our landlady said, “Some people would say that we drink too much. But it’s the only hobby we’ve got.” In response, no one said anything, and after a moment of silence the conversation returned to what it was before her statement.

I think the reason that no one responded to our landlady’s comment is that it was a succinct statement of the truth; alcohol had become the dominant force in their lives. I think that one reason I remember her making the statement so vividly, is that I felt compassion for them, but I had no idea of how to help them. While I know that the incident has made me less judgmental to people in similar situations, I can’t help but believe that there is more that I don’t understand and that maybe God is trying to tell me something.

 How DO we discern what God is saying to us? Here are some partial answers: we pray for guidance; we keep an open mind without imposing our own preconceived notions; we stay aware having faith that His message will become clear; we have patience, for years if need be.

Jim (2017)