Thoughts on Speaking With God

Hebrews 1:1-2a (NIV)
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…

For these last few weeks, I have been wondering how I can follow Jesus when I can't hear His voice. I can't literally see Him. I can't touch Him. But, I can feel Him in my heart, and hear His voice. I think. Maybe. At least sometimes.

Moses conversed with God on a regular basis and had no trouble discerning His voice from the other voices around him. And most of the time Moses followed God's instruction to the letter. As the writer reminds us at the beginning of Hebrews, God has spoken directly to us through His prophets in the past. But now, He can and does speak to us directly. But do I really know His voice when I hear it?

"God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways." [Henry Blackaby and Claude King, Experiencing God, p. 225] God does speak through the Bible. When I am reading a passage and I feel a sense of importance or see a connection I never saw before, I know at some level that God is speaking to me through His word. God also speaks during prayer. Of course He does. And through circumstances — those God-incidents which cannot be coincidence.

But what about those times when my mind wanders in prayer, when I am not focused, when my confessing turns to obsessing? What about those times when I step out in faith and fall flat on my face? What about those times when I look for a Bible passage to shine some light on my journey and can't find one?

All of those little false starts, wrong turns, and missed signs are good. I am reassured that I am pleasing Him as long as I am trying. If I act on a voice in my head and it turns out to be just that — a voice in MY head, that's OK. He'll encourage me to make a course adjustment and together we will move on. It pleases Him immensely when I obediently act on His voice. He gave me everything I need to please Him. My only challenge is to keep trying.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (The Message) May God, who puts all things together, makes all things whole, … Now put you together, provide you with everything you need to please him, Make us into what gives him most pleasure, by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah. All glory to Jesus forever and always!

Amen