The Voice That Never Left: Recognizing God's Presence

Throughout my memoir, I share moments where God spoke directly into my life with the words "I was there." But if I'm being honest, for years I didn't recognize that voice. I thought those moments of clarity, those instances of unexpected strength, those times when hope appeared out of nowhere were just coincidence or luck.

It took time to understand that God had been speaking all along. I just hadn't learned how to listen.

Learning to Listen

Growing up in the chaos of D.C. in the 1980s, noise was constant. Sirens, shouting, gunshots, the endless soundtrack of urban survival. In that environment, you learn to tune out background noise just to function. Unfortunately, I also learned to tune out the quieter voices – including the one that mattered most.

God's voice wasn't competing with the noise. It was underneath it, steady and constant like a heartbeat. While everything around me was chaotic and unpredictable, there was this one voice that remained consistent: offering comfort when I was scared, providing strength when I was weak, giving direction when I was lost.

But I mistook it for my own thoughts, my own intuition, my own survival instincts. I didn't realize I was never really alone.

The Voice in Crisis

Looking back, I can see God's voice most clearly in the moments of deepest crisis. When bullets flew in Iraq and I found myself praying prayers I didn't remember learning. When I was overwhelmed by grief as a child and somehow found the strength to keep going. When relationships fell apart and I discovered resilience I didn't know I possessed.

In those moments, the voice would say things like: "You're stronger than you think." "This isn't the end of your story." "I have plans for you that you can't see yet." "You were made for more than this."

At the time, I thought these were just positive self-talk or mental tricks to get through hard situations. Now I understand they were promises from a Father who was never going to abandon me, no matter how dark things got.

The Voice in the Quiet

But God's voice wasn't only present in crisis. It was also there in the quiet moments – the moments I almost missed because I was always moving, always surviving, always fighting the next battle.

It was there when I was in JROTC formation, teaching me about discipline and honor. It was there when I held my newborn children, whispering about love and legacy. It was there in the desert of Iraq during the rare quiet moments between missions, reminding me of home and hope.

The voice would say things like: "This is what peace feels like." "Remember this moment." "You're learning something important here." "This is preparing you for what's coming."

Learning the Language

As I grew in faith, I began to understand that God speaks in many ways. Sometimes through Scripture that jumps off the page exactly when you need to hear it. Sometimes through other people who say exactly what your heart needs to hear. Sometimes through circumstances that align in ways that can't be coincidence.

But often, He speaks through that still, small voice – the one that cuts through all the noise and speaks directly to your spirit. The one that knows you better than you know yourself. The one that sees your potential when all you can see are your failures.

Learning to recognize that voice required me to slow down, to create space for silence, to stop talking long enough to listen. It required me to believe that God actually wanted to communicate with me, that I was worth His time and attention.

The Voice of "I Was There"

The most powerful moments of divine communication in my life have been the "I was there" encounters – times when God spoke directly into my pain to remind me that I was never alone, even in my darkest moments.

"I was there when you thought you were invisible. I was there when you felt abandoned. I was there when you made mistakes and thought I would give up on you. I was there when you succeeded and when you failed. I was there, and I am here, and I will be there in whatever comes next."

These weren't voices I heard with my ears. They were deeper than that – words that spoke directly to my heart, bringing healing to places I didn't even know were wounded.

Teaching Others to Listen

Now, as a minister, one of my greatest joys is helping young people recognize God's voice in their own lives. Teaching them that the moments when they feel unexpected strength, inexplicable peace, or sudden clarity aren't random – they're conversations with their Creator.

I tell them to pay attention to the voice that encourages rather than condemns, that builds up rather than tears down, that offers hope rather than despair. That's God's voice. He's been speaking to them all along; they just need to learn how to tune in to the right frequency.

The Voice That Never Leaves

The beautiful truth I've discovered is that God's voice never leaves us. It doesn't get quieter when we make mistakes. It doesn't disappear when we doubt. It doesn't abandon us when we're at our worst.

It's constant, patient, persistent. It keeps calling us toward our best selves, toward healing, toward hope. It reminds us who we are when we forget. It shows us who we can become when we can't see past our current circumstances.

If you're reading this and wondering if God speaks to you, I want you to know: He does. He has been. He will continue to. You just need to learn how to listen.

Start by getting quiet. Create space for silence. Ask Him to speak, then wait and listen. Pay attention to the voice that sounds like love, that offers hope, that calls you toward something better.

That voice? That's the voice that was there in every moment of your past, that's present in every moment of your now, and that will guide you into every moment of your future.

He was there. He is here. He will be there.

And His voice will never leave you.