Oct 15th, 2025 @ YWAM Kona, Liri Hilligardt
Two men were talking in Times Square. One of them suddenly paused, saying he could hear a cricket chirping. The other man was astonished and asked how he could possibly notice such a quiet sound in a place so loud and chaotic. The first man answered that it all depends on what you value and pay attention to. To prove his point, he pulled out twenty coins from his pocket and dropped them on the street. The second man heard the coins immediately, but none of the people rushing by seemed to notice.
타임스퀘어에서 두 남자가 이야기하고 있었다. 크리켓이 울고 있는 것을 한 남자가 들었고, 다른 사람은 그에게 어떻게 이렇게 시끄러운 타임스퀘어에서 크리켓 소리를 들을 수 있냐고 물었다. 그 남자는 모든 것은 당신이 무엇을 중요하게 여기는지에 있다고 했다. 그리고 주머니에서 동전 20개를 꺼내서 거리에 떨어트렸다. 다른 남자는 동전이 떨어지는 소리를 들었지만, 거리에 있는 모든 사람들은 들을 수 없었다.
In the same way, the Kingdom of God is constantly present, yet often drowned out by secular noise. When our hearts are tuned more to the world than to God, we slowly stop recognizing His voice. Culture begins shaping us instead of Christ, and we become numb to sin, desensitized to evil, and detached from God’s presence.
Our attention forms our character. Whatever we train ourselves to notice, we become. If we fill our minds with the world’s noise, we lose the ability to hear the gentle whisper of the Spirit.
“If you want to know who you’re going to be in five years, look at the movies you watch or the books you read.”
Questions to ask ourselves:
When we invite God even into the small moments, our habits, distractions, and daily choices, He uses them to refine us. These redeemed moments become places where God forms us and builds His Kingdom through us. So, invite God and ask Him to refine, redeem your mundane everyday life.
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,[f] and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds[g] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Since the beginning, God’s desire has been to have a relationship with us. We can trust that when God speaks, His voice carries authority, not because of volume or form, but because it comes from the One who created all things.
Tuukka once wondered if any language existed before creation. God did not need to use words to bring the world into existence, He could have simply willed it. Yet He chose to speak. This reveals His heart: He chose communication because He desires communion. Relationship is built through shared voice.
God does not always speak in an audible voice, but He always speaks relationally. Sometimes His voice appears in subtle, personal ways, a whisper to the heart, a gentle nudge, or even something small and intimate, like a heart-shaped mosquito bite that reminds us He is near.
Hosea 6:6