I heard about a man who went one night to a local Bible study at a church. The pastor had shared about listening to God and obeying His voice. The young man couldn’t help but to wonder, “Does God still speak to people?”

After service, he went out with some friends for coffee, and they all discussed the message. Several in the group talked about how God had spoken to them or led them in different ways throughout their life. It was about ten o’clock when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he just began to pray, “God, if You still speak to people, please speak to me. I will listen, and I will do my best to obey. Amen.”

As he drove down the street of his town, he had the strangest thought to stop and buy a gallon of milk. He shook his head and said out loud, “God, is that You?” He didn’t get a reply and started on his way home, and again, he had an urging to buy a gallon of milk. The young man thought about Samuel and how he didn’t recognize the voice of God, and how little Samuel had to learn to hear God’s voice (1 Samuel 3:10).

So the young man prayed, “Okay, Lord, in case that is you, I will buy the milk.” It didn’t seem like too hard of a test of obedience. He could always use the milk if he was wrong. He purchased the milk, and then started home.

As he passed Seventh Street, he felt the need to go down Seventh Street.

“This is crazy, but okay God, I will,” the young man thought as he drove past his turn home and onto a street he had never been on before. He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the curb and looked around. He was in a semi-commercialized area of town. Everything was dark at the time he arrived. Most of the street had gone on to bed.

The young man began to open his car door when he suddenly prayed, “God, this is insane. The whole street is asleep, and if wake them up, they are going to be mad, and I will look stupid.”

Again, he felt like he should go and give the milk to someone on Seventh Street. The man prayed, “Lord, if this is You speaking to me, I will go and give whoever is on the other side of the door of this house milk. I don’t know why. I don’t know for whom it is to be given. I just want to be obedient. But if they don’t answer right away, I’m out of here.”

He walked to the door and rang the bell.

He could hear noise inside. A man’s voice yelled out, “Who is it? What do you want?”

Before the young man could run back to his truck, a man came to the door.  The man was standing in blue jeans and a T-shirt. He looked like he just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his face, and he didn’t seem too happy to have a total stranger standing on the doorstep.

The young man thrust out the gallon of milk. “Here, I brought this to you,” he said. And off he ran. The man in the house shouted after him, “Hold on one minute!” He went inside and began loudly speaking Spanish. A few moments later, his wife came with the milk given to them in a bottle ready to feed their small child.

The man began crying. He said, “We were just praying. We had big bills to pay this month, and we had run out of money. We didn’t have any milk for our baby. So we began asking God to show us how to get some milk for our child. God knew our needs!” (Philippians 4:19)

His wife also said, “I asked God to send an angel to us who could provide the milk. Are you an angel?” The young man reached into his wallet and gave them all of the money he had. He said, “I’m no angel, ma’am. But God has certainly heard all of our prayers. He still speaks.” The young man went home thankful for what God had done.

I want you to know that God still speaks. He speaks to us daily in His Word, the Bible (Psalm 19:8). He speaks to us through circumstances, trials, grief, and hardship (James 1:12). He speaks to us through prayer (1 Peter 5:7). God even speaks to us through other people and their testimonies. And yes, God still speaks audibly to others as well. There’s nowhere in Scripture that says He doesn’t! The same God that spoke to Moses, Job, Ezekiel, and John can speak to you and me, too! He’s still speaking. We just have to be in a place ready to listen.

In Scripture, we read about a man named Abram (Genesis 12:1-3). Abram’s world was a bit different than ours today. Yes, there was busyness. Yes, there was politics, pagan people, and problems to solve. But people in Abram’s day didn’t know Jesus like you and I can know Him. They didn’t have a Bible to open up, and they didn’t have a church to attend. They didn’t have preachers, missionaries, or teachers to teach them about God like you and I do.

Sadly, the world was a dark, lonely, and spiritually destitute place. Yet God spoke to Abram. God saved Abram. God led Abram through the trouble, and promised to bless the world through his family. God spoke hope into the world to Abram through the turmoil, the tragedy, and the trials and gave him a glimpse of the greatest hope the world could ever need – Jesus Christ.

That is the joy and beauty of this season called Christmas. We celebrate the reality that God spoke loud and clear to a world that was consumed with chaos, confusion, and distractions. He gave Abram His plan. The plan included Abram’s family line giving the world our Savior, Jesus. Our greatest need was met. What we needed most wasn’t a voice, a sign, or a wonder. We needed a Savior.

God is still speaking. Are you listening?

I want to wish you and your family a very warm and heartfelt Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I pray that you will thank God this year for speaking to us in such a powerful way by sending us the gift of salvation through Jesus! God bless you!

Rev. Peter McDonald, Midway Baptist Church