Are You Listening?
God is speaking but how do we hear? Remember John 10:3-5 with me. God said he is like a shepherd and we are like his sheep. In the verse, he tells us that sheep know their shepherd’s voice. Knowing that, if we are God’s sheep and His sheep know His voice, then how do we know what God is saying? God is calling us to a place where we can put out the wrong voices and hear His voice.
I want you to understand that God knows you by name and wants to speak to you personally. He wants to facilitate a friendship with you. That is WHY He is speaking to you. In Exodus 33:11 God spoke to Moses face to face, as one who speaks to a friend. God wants to have daily conversation with you. Just talk with Him. He loves you and He will offer guidance and direction if we ask. Sometimes He will guide and direct when we don’t ask! He will even interrupt our way. Sometimes we're going in a particular direction but He will interrupt that way and redirect us. This causes tension, but if we obey we will be blessed by knowing we are in God’s will which is always with our best in mind. “Seek his will in all you do and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:6).
He also speaks to us to give us perspective. With His perspective, we can see things we haven't seen before. And, we can see things differently. Just like His ways are higher than our ways, God sees things from a “higher perspective”. This is why we walk by faith and not by sight. Sometimes we see defeat but, if we are tuned into God’s voice, we can hear victory. We want to put listening ahead of looking and we want to respond to what we’re hearing. Don’t look at the circumstances. Listen to God’s perspective. He is our peace in the midst of chaos. He shows us things from his perspective guiding us with knowledge and understanding. We can trust him.
So HOW does God speak? One way he speaks is through his whisper, a gentle nudging, a prompting in our spirit. In 1 Kings 19 there’s a story about Elijah and God’s still small voice. God used His still small voice to pull Elijah out of depression and get him on to his next assignment. We need to learn to recognize that voice. God whispers encouragement. In fact, I think He does this all day long. God is doing more than we realize. We need to get quiet. He speaks to us deep in our heart. He sees you as his child. Isaiah 55:3 commands us to “pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.” We need to come close and receive His love and His life-nourishing words. He wants you to know He loves you and He is proud of you. He sees you through the lens of what you're becoming and what you have potential for, not what you have or haven’t done. God is for you, not against you. If you make bad choices, He will work to restore you and get you back on track but there is nothing you can do to separate yourself from His love for you. God also whispers warnings. Sometimes this type of whisper is referred to as a “check” in your spirit. We find an example of this in Acts 16:6 where Paul and Silas were prevented from traveling to Asia. Holy Spirit did not permit them to go at that time. God uses warnings that impress you not to do something, or to end a deep secret you’ve been holding close that is slowly eating away at you. He uses warnings to protect you.
God whispers direction. He will help you with decisions and choices. Involve Him in the process. Ask Him what He thinks. He will speak - “slow down a little bit” or “do it now” or “take your next step.” Isaiah 30:21 explains that we will hear Him say, “This is the way you should go.” He whispers dreams. I love this because God will put inside of you something you never dreamed you could do. He speaks in dreams and visions. He puts these things in us so we can be a solution in the middle of all the madness. In I Samuel 3, Samuel learned to hear God’s voice and learned the response he should give, “Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.” That's what I want for you. Just listen. Let God use you this week.
He also speaks to us to give us perspective. With His perspective, we can see things we haven't seen before. And, we can see things differently. Just like His ways are higher than our ways, God sees things from a “higher perspective”. This is why we walk by faith and not by sight. Sometimes we see defeat but, if we are tuned into God’s voice, we can hear victory. We want to put listening ahead of looking and we want to respond to what we’re hearing. Don’t look at the circumstances. Listen to God’s perspective. He is our peace in the midst of chaos. He shows us things from his perspective guiding us with knowledge and understanding. We can trust him.
So HOW does God speak? One way he speaks is through his whisper, a gentle nudging, a prompting in our spirit. In 1 Kings 19 there’s a story about Elijah and God’s still small voice. God used His still small voice to pull Elijah out of depression and get him on to his next assignment. We need to learn to recognize that voice. God whispers encouragement. In fact, I think He does this all day long. God is doing more than we realize. We need to get quiet. He speaks to us deep in our heart. He sees you as his child. Isaiah 55:3 commands us to “pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.” We need to come close and receive His love and His life-nourishing words. He wants you to know He loves you and He is proud of you. He sees you through the lens of what you're becoming and what you have potential for, not what you have or haven’t done. God is for you, not against you. If you make bad choices, He will work to restore you and get you back on track but there is nothing you can do to separate yourself from His love for you. God also whispers warnings. Sometimes this type of whisper is referred to as a “check” in your spirit. We find an example of this in Acts 16:6 where Paul and Silas were prevented from traveling to Asia. Holy Spirit did not permit them to go at that time. God uses warnings that impress you not to do something, or to end a deep secret you’ve been holding close that is slowly eating away at you. He uses warnings to protect you.
God whispers direction. He will help you with decisions and choices. Involve Him in the process. Ask Him what He thinks. He will speak - “slow down a little bit” or “do it now” or “take your next step.” Isaiah 30:21 explains that we will hear Him say, “This is the way you should go.” He whispers dreams. I love this because God will put inside of you something you never dreamed you could do. He speaks in dreams and visions. He puts these things in us so we can be a solution in the middle of all the madness. In I Samuel 3, Samuel learned to hear God’s voice and learned the response he should give, “Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.” That's what I want for you. Just listen. Let God use you this week.
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