God is Always Available
LEARNING TO TRUST HIM
Perry Hohman was raised as a good Catholic boy but admits to not being nearly as close to God as he is today. Over the years, Perry has learned to pause and become more aware of how the Lord communicates. Perry shares, “God woke me up from a sound sleep one night, bathed me in the warmest sense of peace and filled my mind with the inspiration to write this book.” It was not the most ideal time in Perry’s mind. He was working full time and helping his wife raise five kids. Perry explains, “I never would have written this book without God’s inspiration. I am very comfortable asking what He wants of me, and writing a book was surely the last thing on my list! I am not a writer. I am not a theologian. So, he tried to convince God that it was a dreadful idea. A few nights later, God confirmed the title of the book to Perry in another dream. Perry started writing. The book took him 10 years to finish. Perry hopes that after reading it, people will perceive God’s prompting and responses in their life, leading them to trust Him more.
COMMUNICATING WITH GOD
Perry believes that in order to understand how the Lord is communicating, we have to become more aware of His ways. He explains, “We humans tend to look for specific answers to our dilemmas. Oftentimes, we don’t recognize His responses because of our blindness, or we receive an answer we don’t really like. Or we see His answers as a coincidence or just luck…The key to this partnership (with God) is to consistently circle back and identify God’s input and actions.” Perry encourages us to take the following steps to grow our relationship with Him:
- Challenge yourself to view decision-making from God’s perspective and encourage yourself to select choices that align with His expectations of you.
- Visualize discussing your options with God and assess how you think He would respond.
- Say a prayer, ask for guidance and become more attentive to what’s occurring around you.
- Learn to keep an open mind and heart. It will help you find God’s responses to your requests.
Not all of God’s responses will mirror your desires. So, keep in mind that “sometimes God allows us to experience difficult events, so we are prepared for something bigger,” says Perry. He experienced this first hand when working for an employer who decided to sell the company. With a young family and the financial stress of finding another job, the pressure on him intensified. “As the sale drew near, I prayerfully sought direction. I found myself waking up earlier in the morning, inspired to read the Bible. The more I read, the more I found peace.” God provided another job and Perry’s faith and trust in God grew stronger.
THE HOLLY TREE
Perry’s family had a 100-foot-tall holly tree in their backyard. One day it fell down for no good reason. There was no windy storm or hurricane and the tree was in good condition. When it fell, it knocked down part of the neighbor's fence that backed up to their property. All Perry could think of was the cost to help repair the fence and have the tree cut up and hauled away. A few nights later, a guest at the neighbor's house heard a loud noise at 3 am. He looked out the window and through the hole in the fence saw that Perry’s garage was on fire. He ran through the hole in the fence and knocked on their door while yelling. They all made it out of the house safely. Perry explains, “Upon reflection, I understood how blessed we were. Our previous hassles prevented the worst outcome. “
