The Way God Speaks


This post, by Doreen Raymer, is a reflection on the “Approaching God in the Dark” sermon as part of the “Wilderness” sermon series.

This past Sunday we heard of the questions posed by Nicodemus. These are questions that reflect his bewilderment at the metaphorical, spiritual meaning of new life articulated by Christ.

The situation recalled to me the discussion Christ had with the woman at the well in John 4.  She was puzzled by the life-giving, eternal quality of the water Christ offered, as compared to the water in her well – a gift from her ancestor Jacob – which she could taste and touch.

The comparison between these two stories interested me because in one of them Jesus converses with a Pharisee, a leader with a prestigious position, and in the other one He converses with a mere woman, perhaps a servant. No matter the difference in their religious education, they each struggled with the same thing: how to understand the language of spiritual metaphor.

How about us, two thousand years later?

Often I have come to God in prayer, seeking to know His will for me, personally; or for months now I have come to God in prayer on behalf of Walmer’s future. In both cases I watched and continue to watch for a very clear, very specific answer. Sometimes it is only after time has passed and I have looked back on that time of praying, that I can see that there was an answer. But since the answer wasn’t what I was expecting, I didn’t recognize it. I was looking for a definite response – a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Instead of the response I expected, I received a revelation…a change of my attitude was needed (to be open to something beyond a ‘yes’ or ‘no’); a recognition of God’s timetable instead of mine was required (my demand for NOW needed to give way to God’s vision for all time); a willingness to seek to understand was essential (the response may come in spiritual language, rather than in literal).

So the wind that blew at random and the water that quenched thirst forever are promises carried on imagery from nature – they are unexpected answers from God. And they are often better than that for which I prayed.