Field of Dreams: God whispers

The scene begins with our main character who seems to be doing something that seems quite usual for him. Nothing out the ordinary, nothing strange. He is doing what he always does.
Then it happens......

"If you build it, He will come."

Build what? Build where?....
You see, much like our character, we want clear direction and clear purpose before we move into the unknown.
Over the last few year of my life, I have discovered how similarly God speaks. I've learned valuable lessons in discerning the voice of God, and although He seems cruel in His whispers, He really is showing you the utmost love.
God is not unprepared for what He is asking, we are. If He were to give us the full picture, the complete story; could we handle it? Would we even begin the journey? The question I believe He is seeking: Will you trust Him?
I learned for the first time in my life, how very little I did trust Him.
Waking up everyday, doing my ordinary life, living under the protection and provision of God, I never really needed to depend on God. I was trained from an early age to be a self-reliant. Depending on someone or some thing made you vulnerable to hurt and disappointment.
"If you want something done right, you might as well do it yourself," and I was content to lead my life the way I saw fit, just as long as I remember to play within the boundaries of morality.
February 5th, 1995, I realized for the first time I couldn't rely on my own ability to keep me from eternal separation from God. I needed Jesus Christ to be my advocate, and pay the price of eternal fellowship with God that I couldn't ever pay.
September 17th, 2011, was the day I heard the voice. I had been fed up with the life I was living. I wanted a life with purpose and meaning. So I did what any Bible believing Christian would do, I demanded that God giving me an audible word on what He wanted from me. Essentially, I came to the end of myself and told God I was done giving orders. My efforts were only producing empty successes and broken relationships.
I would love to tell you, the skies opened and a dove descended onto to my shoulder and a thunderous voice spoke from heaven, but what I heard was silence.
I was out for a midnight walk when I hoped for such a message, but even though I heard nothing, I began to feel an ease to the burdens that I carried.
A scripture verse came to my mind, but I couldn't quite remember it accurately, so I hurried inside and grabbed my Bible to hunt down the verse that escaped me.
I never found that verse, nor can I remember what it was, but I believe the verses I did find were the whispers of God.
When I began to see the pattern of the scriptures I then heard a voice well up from the depths of my heart. It said, "I've already told you what I want for your life, I even wrote it down for you, I will not repeat myself just so you will believe."
That's when I was left with no other choice. I could go back to the life that left me lifeless or I could take a step toward the will of God and truly live.
I want to recap the events that happened to Ray Kinsella, our main character, so below you will find it listed in bullet points. For me, the call to take up my cross and follow (Luke 9:23) has been exactly in line with Ray's call to build a baseball field.

"If you build it, He will come."

• the voice hits you when you least expect it

• question everything, nothing seems to make sense

• can't sleep, it consumes your thoughts

• you begin to feel a bit insane

• start to become irritable with the family, because you want concrete answers

• you feel very alone to what is happening or in your understanding

• when you tell people, they think you're nuts

• then it happens, you find the vision that has been nagging at your heart.

• nothing else seems to matter until you see that thing begin to take shape

• your spouse wants to be supportive, but she can't see what you see

• both of you begin to discuss how improbable that the voice could be real

• then it hits you....you've been living your life trying to find significance, only to find your significance could only be found by following the whisper. 

Don't wait to truly live. Call upon the name of the Lord and He will answer, but be quiet so you don't miss the whisper.

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind whipped the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire there was a still, small voice.  

1 Kings 19:11-12

What would my dad say?

It's day two in London, and I have really begun to settle in to my quaint little room. I'm not a very good sleeper when I am in a new place, but I thought I would be dog tired after the day before. God has blessed me, or cursed me, with an internal alarm clock. I'm usually up by 6 am, not matter what timezone I am in. Of course this plays into my favourite time of day, the morning. There is something about the morning when everything is waking up, there is fresh dew on everything, and the smells are crisp as a spring rain. I love it!! The only thing that would have made my morning more amazing, would have Admiral Boom firing off his time gun to signal the morning.
The rest of the group was up and ready to go a little before the house had prepared breakfast, so we set out to find a traditional English breakfast at a local establishment. My bacon, egg, and cheese muffin was like no other I had tasted. Real farm fresh eggs, fresh English muffin, real cheese, thick crunchy bacon; is this heaven? No, it's government mandated, locally sourced, McDonald's!! Boy do I feel jipped. All these years content with a breakfast substitute, and I discover in one morning what is truly possible. Now I know why the Brits use words like, Brilliant!!
I suppose I should tell you, I am from the Mid-west. This is the home of McDonald's. You would think we would have the better options. Anyway, enough about my religious experiences.
That day we met a new friend, who was a church historian and pastor, at St. Paul's Cathedral. Before you ask, I was hoping to see the old bird women selling bird seed for Tuppence a bag, but she must have stepped out.
Now the Mary Poppins overtures were mushrooming in my mind, and I could have just walked around this magnificent place dreaming of popping in and out of chalk drawings, but we had other things on the agenda.
Not to get whisked away, we walked into the nearby courtyard. We all stood at St. Paul's Cross and listened about it's history. Before William Tyndale translated the Bible from Latin into common language, this is the place where the priests would preach to the crowds. You see, no one owned a Bible. They would come to this place to receive God's word from the church. Needless to say, things weren't always interpreted accurately. This was also the very place many Christians were martyred for taking a stand against the heretical ways of the church.
We then travelled to one of the best kept secrets of London, Postman's Park. This also marks the site of John Wesley's conversion, the father of Methodism. What makes Postman's Park particularly special is what it represents. This place is no bigger than a postage stamp compared to all of London, but within it lies a monument erected by Queen Victoria and George Fredrick Watts as a memorial to those who had given their lives while rescuing others.
 ^"He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them." 2 Cor 5:15
After learning how so many have gone before us and paid the price so we may understand our faith, it humbled me.
We then went up to Loughburough and met with a great group whose mission is the equip kids to be missionaries on their college campuses. This really captured my attention. What a fantastic idea!! The energy they brought to the meeting was just the kick we needed to keep going that day.
On our way back, we met a few random people on the train. It was awesome how God connected those lives to us, and how receptive they were to our discussions about faith. Pinch me!! I am I really here? Wow!! Could it get any better?
That afternoon it did. We met a new friend at Parliament; and not only was this guy a Christian, but he is a doctor, an accomplished recording artist, and a parliament member. Oh yeah, he's only 35!! As we ogled at Big Ben, we discovered we were going to go inside. Excuse me? What?
This was all making my head a bit dizzy. Soon we were through security and we were standing in the lobby between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. I could see the queen's seat on one side and the Prime Minister on the other. Then we began to pray over the country. Amazing!!
After dinner and some more touring the city, we returned to our new home for the night. That night God would speak to me and mess me up forever.
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23
Am I willing to die for my faith? Am I to walk away from everything I know and follow? Am I really willing to go "all in"? What would my Dad say?