How does God speak to you?

How does God speak to you?  This has been a question that has been on my mind a lot lately, especially considering that I haven't really thought much about this question until I started discerning the Priesthood.  You see, I've always been kind of cynical of people who always go around saying "God spoke to me, and He told me that..."  because I guess I've never thought of God as working that way.  But I've had some experiences recently that have kind of given me some different insight into this topic, so I kind of wanted to share, and see what others thought about this.

Recently, I've had several experiences where something has been on my mind that is troubling me, and for no apparent reason, a scripture verse will pop into my head, or a song will come on to the radio that is exactly the answer to the question I was asking myself.  I can't explain it, but there is a sense of comfort that comes from knowing that if I am willing to listen, the answers are there.  They may not come in the way I expect, but they will come.

I think that all too often, many people (myself included) expect God to speak to us in big ways- we want to hear that booming voice coming down from the clouds, and God saying "This is my will for you!"  But if there's anything I've learned over this past year, it's that God doesn't work that way.  Sometimes he speaks to us in out thoughts.  Sometimes it is through the words of others, whether it be a friend, parent, brother, sister, Priest, or anyone else we come into contact with.  Sometimes it can be through a song that we hear, or even  something that we see.  Sometimes it can just be a feeling.

The experience that really drove this home for me happened at the Easter Vigil this year.  I was serving, which meant that I got to be more involved in the service, everything from singing the Exsultet, to witnessing the Baptisms of the people who were becoming Catholic.  It was an incredible feeling to not only see the smiles on the faces of the newly Baptized, but to also feel the Holy Spirit move during the Confirmations.  It was enough to move me to tears, and it is the little reminders like this that are the greatest reassurances of God's presence in our lives.

So I guess if there's anything I've learned, it's not not always think of God speaking in big ways, but to look instead in the stillness, for it is there that God speaks to us.  May we all learn to not be afraid of this stillness, so that we too may learn to listen for the voice of God.