Hearing God's Voice – Part I

Many of us have grown to love the theme of God’s guidance. Within Christian community, the teaching on the will of God and how to discover it continues to be one of the most popular subjects. Many of us grew up accustomed with the prayer line, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” At many Christian Conferences the workshop that most people stay in line to sign up for is, “Knowing the Will of God.” My wife Rodica, a 5th Grade Sunday School Teacher recently surveyed her class and was surprised to see that even at this young age the theme of hearing God’s voice topped her students’ preferences!

Indeed, there is a deep thirst within that challenges us to desire and seek a personal, intimate relationship with God. The Bible is filled with examples of regular people like ourselves who experienced a close relationship with the Creator, a relationship that resembles more like a friendship or family tie. This is the reality and the beauty of the one-on-one relationship: God has created us for intimate friendship with Himself – both now and for the eternity ahead. God’s desire for intimacy with His children is well attested in the Scriptures: “Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.” (Exodus 29:45-46). “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent” (Ex. 33:11). Jesus said to His disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14).  “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God’.” (Revelation 21:3)

Busting Some Myths Regarding God’s Guidance

Myth 1: God only speaks to and guides the spiritual mature believers

Some Christians think God’s guidance is just for prophets or missionaries or pastors. A story that shows how false this myth is comes from the Old Testament Book of Numbers. There was a prophet named Balaam who was hired by the enemy of Israel, Midian, to curse Israel. Balaam is riding a donkey to go to Midian but God sends an angel to turn Balaam back to Israel. On the road, the donkey sees the angel of God blocking their path. Balaam doesn’t see it. So the donkey turns aside. Balaam beats the donkey to get her back on the road. This happens three times. This is in the Bible, Numbers 22. The donkey is reasoning with Balaam, not just speaking to him. God is speaking through a donkey. God can speak through anybody He chooses. He can speak through a donkey if He wants to. It’s not about spiritual greatness and maturity. God can speak to a little boy, like He did in the case of the young Samuel (1 Samuel 3). It is important to observe that it was a process for Samuel to learn to distinguish God’s voice!

Myth 2: If I’m always obedient to God’s Word, He will guide all my decisions, and I won’t have to make any decisions on my own.

As a parent, would it be a good thing if you would make every decision for a child’s whole life? Would you like it if for your whole child’s life you would say, “Wear these clothes. Take this class. Choose this major. Buy this house. Enter this job. Marry this person.” The normal answer would be NO! Because that would paralyze their development! As a parent, my main goal for my child is that he or she becomes a good and godly person, a person of wisdom and courage and grace and mercy and love and truth. Becoming a good person requires you to think things out, exercise judgment, sometimes make difficult choices in the face of uncertainty, and then take accountability and learn. That process is indispensable for the formation of a human being, and that means that many times in your life when you pray and ask for guidance, God’s response is going to be: “You choose.”  Because you’ll never grow if you don’t do that!

Sometimes, the reality is, I don’t really want guidance. What I want is to be spared the anxiety that goes with freedom and choosing and being responsible. Part of God’s will for your life is that you grow into responsible, mature adults. There is no other way to learn except by choosing. When you choose, there is risk involved. With risk, sometimes you’ll experience failure. With failure you’ll feel pain. God does not offer guidance as a method of risk avoidance. God’s guidance is not about you reducing your anxiety in the face of choice. It’s about you becoming the person God intended you to be. That means very often God will say to you: “You choose: be wise, get good counsel, and I’ll be with you guiding through the process.”

Myth 3: God’s will is an inner and subjective card I can use to get my way

Most of us probably heard a story when somebody – could be a guy or a gal – would say to somebody of the opposite gender: “God told me you’re the person I’m meant to marry.” The best response to this is, “You tell God to tell me, and as soon as I hear from Him, I’ll get back to you.” Or you hear that a pastor at a church will leave to go to a larger church with more prestige and a higher salary. But he will never say, “I’m leaving to go to a bigger church with more prestige and a higher salary.” What he’ll say is, “I got … called.  I don’t want to go to that bigger church with more prestige and a higher salary. Personally, I’d rather stay here with you, but God called me, so what can I do?”

Some Christians can become hypocritical by using this “spiritual” language as they try to make themselves look more spiritual by adding to the normal course of decision-making phrases like, “The Lord called me to … “; “God spoke to me about going there;” “God put this burden on my heart” ; “God showed me this…” This kind of language can impress and often intimidate “regular” Christians. Our God is a guiding God. But of all the facets of the greatness of God, the guidance of God can be the most confusing to people.

Myth 4: There is nothing we can do to be guided by God

The Prophet Elijah was discouraged and needed guidance at one time in his life. The Lord led him to a place alone for 40 days. He was on a mountain, and some spectacular things happened. A great and powerful wind came down, but the text says the Lord was not in the wind. Then a strong earthquake occurred. The Bible says the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then a fire came. The text says the Lord was not in the fire. Elijah had to wait and wait and wait, and finally after the fire was a still, small voice.  There was the Lord. Not the big, spectacular, dramatic special effects, but a still small voice.

What is my role in finding God’s guidance? Listening. Of course reading Scripture is a primary way we listen to God. The Holy Spirit never leads us in a direction contrary to the teachings of Scripture. When you wonder, “How do I know if a prompting is of God?”,  part of what to recognize is that God’s guidance will never be in contradiction to the teaching of Scripture. The promptings of the Spirit are generally in line with the gifts the Spirit gives. If somebody says, “I want to sing in the choir,” but they have a terrible voice, that is probably not the Spirit leading them. The Spirit generally leads people in a direction of servanthood. If you find an idea, and it’s really all about your fulfillment and not about serving, there is good reason to question.

By Romeo Pelle