God Whispers

I've seen enough suspense shows and psychological thrillers to think that I can say with absolute confidence...don't whisper to me in the dark. Ever. 

At the same time, I have whispered enough things to those I love in the dark to know that sometimes, these are the things I most need to hear. (Well, to be sure, I can only say that they are the things I most need to say, but when I say them, it is because I think someone I love needs to hear them.)

Most often, the words that I whisper in the dark are...I love you.

I love you, when the doctor is moments away from coming back in the room. I love you, when the morphine pump cranks up another level. I love you, when the house is in a pile of rubble. I love you, when the eviction notice is on the door. I love you, when the bank account is overdrawn. I love you, when the heartbeat is gone. I love you, when the vet is holding the syringe. I love you...I love you...I love you.

Some of us spend our lives thinking about the darkness, preparing for it. Maybe you have a list of things you think you want to say when the time comes. Maybe you have a whole checklist in your mind of what those dark times are going to look like if - when - they come your way. Maybe you have a contingency plan and a plan for a contingency on that. Maybe you have a carefully crafted letter that you're just waiting on the right moment to read. Maybe you think, against all hopes, that you're ready for the darkness if it finds you. 

But I'm telling you - when those moments find you, when this broken life finds you, when darkness falls, the only words I've ever found that truly mattered, the only ones I've ever wanted to say, the only ones I've ever wanted anyone else to know were I love you. 

Jesus told His followers that what God whispers to us in the dark, we are to shout in the light (Matthew 10:27). 

When we hear those words, we start to think about some kind of amazing prophetic message. Some special nugget of wisdom God is going to give us at just the right time. Some amazing word of grace that's going to change the whole world around us. It's so amazing that we can't even imagine what it is, but we know that when we hear it, we'll know it's the word. 

But I think in the darkness, in our darkest days, in our hardest times, in our most trying tests, the words God has for us are the same ones we have for each other: I love you. I think that's what He whispers. 

It's what He's whispered to me. At the moments that I have most needed to hear from God, those are the words He's chosen. And...they're enough. And...they're perfect. And...they're exactly what we think they're going to be. 

They're an amazing prophetic message, a deep, powerful truth that we need to hear. They are a special nugget of wisdom at just the right time, for what changes our perspective on the world more than knowing we are loved by God? They are amazing words of grace that change everything. These words truly change everything. 

And we should shout them in the light. 

Because as much as we've needed to hear them, so, too, does the world. 

When the darkness comes, God whispers in our ear...I love you.... 

And He does. 

So shout that in the light. I am loved by God. 

It makes all the difference.