There are nights when holding on to truth is a hard-won fight. Like when a loved one is in the hospital, and you do not know what news the morning will bring. Or when anxious thoughts wash over you in waves, stealing sleep and peace of mind. And then there are those times that seem like Jacob’s night of wrestling with God. We pray and wrestle with questions, asking the Lord “why,” because life and the world are too broken. At daybreak, we can feel as weak as the patriarch walking with a limp.  

But those moments, as difficult as they are, also offer us the chance to hear the voice of God. Not in some lightbulb revelatory experience when we audibly hear the Lord, but in the quiet whispers of His Spirit. The times when we most need encouragement are when we should be listening for the prompting of the Holy Spirit. For He will certainly speak if we will but quiet ourselves and listen.  

I have experienced this during everyday tasks as well as times of great distress. When a health issue left me worried and questioning what the next day would bring, the Holy Spirit regularly reminded me of  Substack, or visit the discipleship-based site Cultivate, where she writes with her sister.