I walked in the door of my aunt’s house, but hung back where my two-year-old cousin couldn’t see me. My hair was a wild mess and my face was painted a combination of brown, tan, and orange. That’s what happens when you score a part as a monkey in The Jungle Book. I was afraid Leah wouldn’t recognize me, so I stayed back in the shadows and began speaking before she could get a glimpse of my face. I finally worked up the nerve to approach her. When I said her name, she turned ever so slowly to look me in the face. I braced myself for crying and screaming. Face paint is scary to such a small child. I held my breath as Leah’s eyes connected with mine and she released a great, big… laugh.

She was laughing. She  knew exactly who I was, and she was quite tickled by the fact that I resembled a monkey. Even though my face was difficult to recognize, she at least knew my voice, and that was enough to make her two-year-old brain put the pieces together. I was impressed by her knowing, actually. I had watched adults pass me, never realizing that they knew the girl behind the face paint. Yet Leah knew my voice well enough to clearly see me in a form that she might not have expected.

God often shows up in strange forms – like a burning bush or a Messiah who did not come to bring physical freedom. He has appeared to me in the form of friends, strangers, children, and the fantastical Prince Charming. I can take one story and compare it to the story I’ve read in the Bible time and time again… and I see God in a new light. He becomes the Best Friend, the Lover, the Prince of my dreams… He becomes more and more real every time He appears in a brand new (and very real) form to me. I’ve learned to hear His voice in the midst of other voices and therefore, I can recognize when He is speaking to me.

The God of the universe is speaking to you as well.  He is all around you. The God of disguises does not have to be a mystery. When you cannot see His Face, you only need to know His Voice.