I will hear what God the LORD will speak. Psalm 85:8
Billy Joe worked at a gas station where I occasionally bought fuel. A product of a broken home, he’d been turned out by his parents at an early age and was forced to make his way in life entirely on his own. A severe learning disability, poor vision, and epilepsy added to his burdens. I had talked with him several times, given him some tracts, and encouraged him to read the Bible and pray. He seemed very open to my counsel but confessed that his reading comprehension was poor.
I had lost track of Billy Joe for about a year when our paths crossed once again at a different service station where he was employed. His enthusiasm overflowed as he immediately began telling me of the progress in his spiritual life. “Pete,” he said, “I’ve always been a poor reader, but when I started reading the Gospel of John, it seemed that God was speaking directly to me.”
That is a very simple truth, yet how often do we fail to grasp its wonder when we read our own Bibles? God is actually speaking to us, showing us how much He loves us and offering to guide us into a life of peace, joy, and victory over evil. The beauty of His Word is that it speaks directly to our hearts, and this can happen regardless of our intelligence, education, culture, or background. But our heart must be open.
In John 6:63, Jesus tells us, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
It’s been almost thirty years since I last visited with Billy Joe, but I have never forgotten his beautiful testimony of how God spoke directly to him through the Bible.
Lord, speak to me that I may speak,In living echoes of Thy tone.
– Frances Ridley Havergal
~ Pete Lewis
