Was That God Speaking?
I was sitting at the beach today and God began to speak to me…because Jesus loves the beach too!! The ocean is in constant movement, constant surging in and back out. Even on a calm day when the waves are small, it’s never completely still or quiet. As I listened to the roar of the waves crashing to the shore, I thought of God’s voice.
People sometimes say they have trouble hearing God speak to them. God is always speaking but we don’t always hear him. Why? Although he is always speaking and working in our lives, we can’t always hear or sense him; maybe we are not close enough to detect his voice. Not everyone can hear the waves crashing to the shore, simply because they aren’t close enough to the ocean to hear it. But when we are CLOSE, we hear it loud and clear. It’s the same with God’s voice.
If we have children we can recognize their cry when we are in a crowded room of crying babies because we have spent a lot of time near them. We know what they like, don’t like, what foods are their favorites, etc. The more time we are around anyone the more we know him or her and can recognize his or her voice.
While the ocean is very loud God’s voice is not. So being close to him is the only way we can hear him. When God came to Elijah in 1 Kings 19:11-12 he said, “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord wasnot in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was notin the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was notin the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.
At the ocean I can close my eyes and sense his nearness. The sound of the waves drowns out the distractions around me so I can listen for him. Finding the right place and learning to quiet our inner voices are important steps to hearing him.
It takes time to learn his voice. Sometimes it’s such a faint nudge or whisper that we think it couldn’t possible be God speaking. But, to learn we have to step out. When it is confirmed it was his voice then we will recognize his voice the next time. That’s just how we learn.
Another way is by knowing his word. He will never speak something to you that is contrary to his written word. We will not survive as a believer if we do not know it. His character and his ways are revealed in his word. I knew a lady once who said she believed God had told her to marry a man she was dating. This woman was born again but the man was not. God’s word tells us not to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever so I knew it was not God’s voice she heard but the voice of her own desire. She married him and it ended in a nasty divorce. Had she known God’s voice from his word she could have saved herself a great deal of pain.
Have you ever had the experience of talking to someone and all of a sudden, you just feel like you have your cloths on backwards? Your insides just feel twisted up…you can’t explain it but you KNOW something is off about them or what they are telling you. We should always listen to that voice/feeling. Some call that our conscience or intuition but it's one way that God speaks to us.
God’s spirit in me warns me with a “knowing”, it’s a voice or a feeling I sense. But I didn’t learn that overnight I learned it by spending a lot of time close to the Father. I can now trust that voice or nudge because I’ve had experience. When we are new believers it’s important to run things by a mature believer if what we are doing is a major decision. We should practice learning his voice on smaller decisions with fewer consequences in case we are mistaken. #LearningCurve
We seem to think it’s somehow wrong to sit quietly and just be. We would rather be “doing” because then we feel more productive. Our relationship with God is very opposite; it’s more about being…being with him, listening to him, having relationship. Take some time this week to shut yourself in a room and just sit…and quiet your heart. Worship him, express your love for him, and wait. You may find he’s already there waiting for you…