Does God Still Speak To People?

By Kay Heitsch 

It was a delightful morning. Birds were singing, and the chipmunks were chirping in between eating their morning meal of acorns on our front steps. "Oh, life doesn't get any better than this," I said to myself as I sat in my usual spot on the sofa, reading my Bible and talking to the Lord. This quiet time was a daily habit for me. I never knew exactly how long I would be there when I sat down. I was always excited to see what the Lord would teach me daily. I looked forward to this quiet time alone with God. This morning, as I sat holding my Bible on my lap reading, I heard this inner voice saying, "Get up and go to the corn stand at the Antique Mall." "What?" I found myself saying. "Lord, this is our time together. Is This You?"

I was curious to know if there was a corn stand by the Antique Mall. If there was one, I certainly had never been there. I heard the words again, this time loud and clear, "Kay, get up and go to the corn stand at the Antique Mall." This was very strange, and in a way, I felt foolish acting upon this thought, but finally, I said to the Lord, "You know my heart, and I want to do what You tell me. If you tell me to go, I want to obey; if this is not, You know my heart is right." 

This was going to be between the Lord and me. I would only tell people about this conversation if a corn stand existed. I got up, left everything as it was, and entered the van. I drove to the Antique Mall. I slowly pulled into the parking lot, wondering why I was there and what I would find. Lo and behold, there was a little produce stand. I stopped and parked the van. Then I thought, "Well, now what should I do?"

The thought to get out and buy some corn came to me. GOOD IDEA! After I selected a dozen ears of corn, the first corn we'd had this season, I handed the young lady behind the counter the money and returned to the van. I was still trying to understand why I was there. As I opened the van's door to put the corn in, I noticed the inspirational booklets written by Dr. Peale sitting in the basket between the seats. I always kept a supply of these booklets to give out to people when I felt directed to do so.

The thought of giving this girl who was selling the corn a booklet came to my mind. I reached in and picked up a couple of pamphlets. I exited the van and walked over to the stand again with the booklets in my hand. Several people were milling around, looking over the produce. I walked over to where this girl stood, handed her the flyers, and said, "I thought you might enjoy reading these today." Without hesitation, she came out from behind the counter, took the pamphlets, and asked, "Who sent you?" I was stunned! Much to my surprise, I answered, "God." I went on trying to explain what had happened that morning. I told her that the thought to go to the corn stand at the Antique Mall was so strange I felt it must be the Lord, so I came. By this time, other people around the stand were listening to our conversation with looks of astonishment on their faces. To tell you the truth, I was a little astonished myself. 

Suddenly, this girl began to cry and threw her arms around me. She told me she had received some devastating news about 20 minutes before and had prayed that God would send someone to be with her. I told her it had been about 20 minutes before I'd thought of going there. By now, we had everyone's attention who was shopping at the stand. Turning around and seeing everyone looking at us hugging, this young woman with tears running down her cheeks said, "The Lord sent this lady here today, just when I needed her." 

I returned to the van, opened the door, and got in. Pulling out of the parking lot, I looked back in the rearview mirror. I saw this young woman with her hands raised to the sky saying, "Thank you, Jesus." I also thanked Jesus for this delightful day and what He had taught me by answering my question, "Is this You?" Do you think I believe God still speaks to people? You bet I do!