Hearing The Voice Of God
Randall Caselman
2/5/97
Hearing The Voice Of God
Communication is a marvelous blessing from God. He has enabled us to exchange ideas and to express our love one-to-another. We can't imagine a world without communication? God not only blesses us with this ability to communicate with one another, but also with Him. We talk to Him in prayer and He speaks to us in at least three ways:
Through nature.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
Through Divine providence.
He brings people and situations into our lives which provides us with guidance and opportunities, to serve and share the gospel.
And through His inspired Word.
Nature tells us God is.
Providence gives us opportunities.
The Bible tells us how to have a salvational relationship with Him.
Are we hearing the voice of God? Jesus said, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. In the Word we find God, direction, peace, comfort, purpose, and rest. Several times in scripture we find Jesus saying, He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.
How can we equip ourselves to better hear God?
We must tune Him tune in, receive the Word. In the electronic communication world, there are signals in the air on many frequencies: AM, FM, TV, police, emergency, military, ham, aircraft, boat, microwave and satellite. But we don't hear them unless we are tuned in. Folks, God IS speaking to us...Are we listening? Are we tuned in? Who are we tuned in to?
David reminds us to, Be still and know that Jehovah is God.
Jesus often went to a quite place to communicate with the Father.
Samuel was called in the still of the night.
Eli instructed Samuel to say, speak Lord, thy servant is listening.
If we are to hear the voice of God, we too must tune Him in, invite Him to speak, and then listen for His communication. How many of us are spending quite time in meditation and in the Word?
We must avoid selective hearing. When we were young, we could hear high frequency sounds, but through the years we are no longer able to distinguish them. They are within an audible range, but go unheard.
Sometimes we develop a habit of hearing God say ONLY what we want Him to say. We are selective in the verses we read. We are found listening only to those we know will say what we want to hear. I had a lady tell me once, when I pay the preacher, he'll say what I want him to say. She never came back again. Paul was speaking of these kind of listeners when he told Timothy, Preach the Word....For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. I wonder how many blessing we rob ourselves of by this narrow minded selective process.
We must keep our ears sensitive to things spiritual. Many of us have actually damaged our ears by listening to Satan, so that we are no longer sensitive to the whisper of the Spirit.
The Hebrew's writer speaks of some who have seared their consciences to the point that they are no longer sensitive to God's communication.
Paul tells of those who had lost their sensitivity, Although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their foolish hearts were darkened. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts....They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator.
We must be willing to obey what we hear. The Word of God is purposeful, power and penetrating. Within it is the power to convince and convict, power to change our lives, to give us direction, forgive our sins, comfort, guide, and sustain us, save us in heaven. But only if we are willing to obey it's commands.
Moses told Israel, Be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land you will possess.
James said, Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
Jesus declared, those who hears theses words of mine and put them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock...But he who hears and does not is like a foolish an who built his house on the sand.
Take time today, perhaps right now to thank God for his blessing of communication.
Listen! Do you hear Him?
Randall Caselman
