Why doesn’t God talk to us like he does in our Bible stories? Has a young child ever asked you that question? Children hear the story of God talking to his people in the Bible and they wonder what he sounds like, what he looks like. They want to hear his voice. They wonder why we can’t hear him.

After that first Easter, and before Jesus went up into heaven, he told the disciples that God the Holy Spirit would visit them soon and help prepare them for telling others about Jesus. The special day that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples and others that believed in Jesus is called “Pentecost”. The verses from Joel were fulfilled on that first Pentecost. It was a spectacular sight! God came to them in the wind and fire and even allowed the disciples to speak in different languages. How wonderful it must have been that day, to be given strong faith through the power of the Holy Spirit and to share this joy with so many others.

While God does not come to us in the same way as he did to those in our Bible lessons, God is still here! God comes to us not in the wind or fire. He chooses not to speak to us from a burning bush like he did with Moses and he doesn’t send angels to give us messages like he chose to do with the shepherds on the first Christmas. But God is real and very alive.

The Holy Spirit continues to grow faith in our hearts and prepare us to bring others closer to him. He convinces us all that God’s Word is true and trustworthy. Even when we feel as though we aren’t “good enough”. We sometimes fail in our vocations as caregiver and educator, sister or brother, son or daughter, co-worker, and friend. We daily sin against those that we love and those that God places in our personal ministry. And yet, we are not alone, God is here.

God reveals himself to us in the Bible, his Word. The blessings from that first Pentecost are for everyone! God visits us every time that we open our Bible and he talks to us through its words. Every time that we read his Word or go to church, God reinforces for us the reliability of his revealed truth: he shares with us the promises that we are forgiven and will be with him in heaven. As we read, we can hear his voice sternly telling us when we are doing wrong and softly forgiving us after we repent. We can hear him reveal the wonders of his involvement in our world. God wants us to study his Word and for us to come to him in prayer. God IS here, he IS alive!