On the Still, Small Voice

A few months ago, when Hope Community Church (the church I attend while in college; I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested) was preaching through the book of 1 Corinthians, they did an excellent mini-series on spiritual gifts. The takeaway verse was 1 Corinthians 12:7, "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." He went into detail on the specific gifts Paul names in places, like wisdom, prophecy, helping others, and, of course, speaking in tongues. From these sermons I concluded that I have the Spiritual gift of wisdom; I'm able to listen to God's "still, small voice" and share what He teaches me with others.

I could post multiple times on spiritual gifts, but my focus this time is on a specific instance of the gift of wisdom that happened to me last night. While at the weekly meeting for Campus Crusade of Christ, during worship, I asked God in prayer, "What's the most amazing thing You've done in my life?" I can't fully express how cool it is to ask God questions like this and (sometimes) get an answer back. This time I did get an answer: "The most amazing thing if that I have given you life." (I don't remember the exact wording) At first I took this to mean that I'm alive, i.e. that I have earthly life, but then I realized He probably meant the true, eternal life I've been given through the Spirit, by the sacrifice of Christ.

That in itself is pretty cool. But the fact that the answer came in specific words, that there is an 'exact wording' deserves further mention. As a rule, I think in concepts. Once those concepts solidify or make sense, my brains puts them into words for the sake of communication, if only with myself. Since my brain starts with a meaning and puts it into words, it's impossible for me to misunderstand or misinterpret my own thoughts. Unless other people think much more differently from me than I thought, I would guess this is the case for most people.

So the fact that I misunderstood this already-worded answer, if only briefly, tells me that it's not from the echo chamber of my mind; that this "still, small voice" really is God speaking to us. Or I'm just crazy. Or both!