Can dead people warn us of impending danger? Do they provide the grown up equivalent of “don’t run with scissors?”
That’s a dicey question for a Christian to ask because the Bible tells us that God doesn’t want us to try to communicate with the dead.
I hope my fellow believers haven’t already tuned out. If you’ve made it thus far, allow me to elaborate. I want to tell you about what I heard last week. And how it caused me to swerve from danger.
I think God brings things to our mind from the past that fit into the circumstances of the moment. He reminds us of conversations past.
I also think wisdom and other bits of information people like our parents gave us get embedded in our brains. And at the right moment, it’s like a “play” button is pushed. We hear them again, but this time, their words apply to present circumstances. It sure feels as though it is from our departed one, doesn’t it? But is it?
Have you ever gotten a message? I’ve had it happen several times in regard to my parents, and each time I feel a connection with them. The gulf of death is momentarily bridged, and my parents are once again offering me advice. Or perspective. Or reassurance.
However, I attribute these incidents to God’s power, not to the will of someone who is dead. My parents aren’t floating about – they are in heaven, where I believe they pray for me. I suspect they also may “look down” or in some other way be aware of what’s going on in my life (Hebrews 12:1), though I don’t think they are monitoring me 24/7. Their minds aren’t entrenched in this world but instead are focused on the glory of God in heaven and that his will be accomplished on Earth.
The “Voice”
My warning came last week as I was folding clothes. I was thinking about a particular person I grew up with and saw over Thanksgiving. Stranded in Memphis with little money and no credit card, I drove him around and found him a place to sleep. I was going to do more, but then I heard my mother’s voice. It wasn’t audible, but I halted my work.
Mom told me she was afraid that someday this person would entangle me in his trouble.
I was remembering what she’d told me in the past. And yet it touched my circumstances in the present. Hearing the words a second time, I instantly went on the alert.
When I heard a day or two later that this person may be wanted by the police, I decided I couldn’t help him anymore. My sympathy tugging on me, I wanted to help. I wanted to buy him a bus ticket to his home out of state, but my mother’s warning and my own sense of concern caused me to disengage.
Still Connected
I finished cleaning out my parents’ home and sold it this past spring, but it’s really nice to know I can still feel connected to them without going through their belongings. Their wisdom is embedded in my brain, ready to be brought to memory by circumstance or an act of God.
Can dead people warn us of impending danger? I cannot say that God doesn’t allow their essence to drop a message on us, but I affirm we should not seek out an actual voice. We should be skeptical of anything that seems to be the “voice” of our loved one – such a voice is too easily misinterpreted or counterfeited.
We should seek the guidance of the only all-powerful, all-knowing God.
Nonetheless, it is a happy experience to see what our parents left us is still with us. As their wisdom echoes through the chambers of time, they remain a part of our lives. They aren’t with us in the physical, audible way that we wish, but their nurturing influence continues to live on in our hearts. What a comfort!
When did you “hear” a replay of wisdom from a loved one and how did it help you navigate a present circumstance?
Copyright © 2018 by Toni Lepeska. All rights reserved. www.tonilepeska.com
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