God instructs us to listen for His voice.
Scripture is full of examples of God giving instruction to His people to heed his voice. The list of examples is exhausting, and I actually found a website with a list of “50 Bible verses about Listening to God”. They span the entire Bible, so it isn’t something that was temporary or started in the New Testament but was absent in the Old.
From our youth, we are listening to voices giving us instruction. It starts with our parents. I still listen to my father, even though at 61 years old, he isn’t telling me to eat my vegetables, take out the trash, or go to bed. (He relies on my wife to do that now.)
It was easy to know when our parents were speaking; we could see them and hear them audibly. We may have read a written note of instructions. God, on the other hand, isn’t physically present, and His voice isn’t “heard” the same way. How then, are we to hear Him?
How we listen to and hear God speak.
Some things are told to us quite plainly in the Bible. Exodus 20 is perhaps the most well-known place to find clearly spelled out laws of things we are to do or not do. We know them as the Ten Commandments. Explicitly telling us to not worship any other gods, to not commit adultery, and other clearly spelled out things, they are the first written laws that man ever had from God. They were obviously important to Jesus as well.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15 KJV)
Jesus tells His followers this, and I believe that He is speaking not only of the Ten Commandments but of everything He had instructed them to do during His ministry. However, what about those of us living today? How do we know how to live today?
Knowing God’s voice from others.
Jesus, when speaking to this matter, reminds His disciples that He is the shepherd, and they are His sheep. Just as a literal shepherd can call his sheep and they will follow him, the same can be said for Christians; they/we, will know His voice. We are, however, warned that Satan will always be tempting us and luring us with enticements that sound like they are coming from God.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (I John 4:1 KJV)
Two people come to mind from my past when I think of this. One was a gentleman who told me that God “told him” to marry his wife, and to do it “right away”. They divorced two years later. The other was a man who said that God spoke to him and told him to begin studying to become an accountant. This meant that for the next six years, he would study, forgoing attending church so that he could stay at home buried in his books and neglecting his family.
While I cannot speak for what either of these men heard or whose voice it was, their actions and the results of them indicate that it may well have not been what they claimed. That, or they did not listen to the entire message.
When we hear an answer that we like about a difficult question in life, it can be easy to assume that it is divinely inspired. After all, isn’t that what we would like to think? That we are following God’s will? That the job we took, the person we married, the home we bought, was a choice made because God led us to it?
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (II Corinthians 11:14 KJV)
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (I John 4:1 KJV)
How can I tell if it is God speaking?
Make no mistake; Satan is very deceptive. From the very beginning of history, he has used half-truths and misinformation to persuade and convince people to follow him. Just look at what he told Eve in Genesis 3. He didn’t completely deviate from what God had said about eating the forbidden fruit from the one tree in the garden. He simply reworded what God had said and made her doubt its truth:
“But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:3–5 KJV)
Notice how Eve begins by restating, with some error, (God did not forbid touching the tree, only eating from it), and the serpent immediately casts doubt in her mind. He then follows up with a flat-out lie!
Not all untruths come in the form of a serpent in a tree. In fact, contrary to the images portrayed today, he also isn’t red, sporting horns, a tail, and carrying a pitchfork. The evil enemy of our lives comes in many forms. To me, he may come as a beautiful woman. To another person, a wealthy businessman. To you, a trusting pastor or your new boss or neighbor. We all have to be on the lookout for those who would deceive us and lead us astray. One of the best ways to be alert to false messages is to remain diligent in God’s Word. Know what it says and pray fervently for guidance in all of your daily dealings.
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11 KJV)
May you find peace with God and learn to hear His voice.
The writings of Living Faith by James M. Dakis are posted here regularly as a ministry for Christians as well as those seeking to learn more about the Bible and Christianity. I invite and encourage you to like and subscribe to this page and to leave any comments. I will do my best to reply as soon as possible.
Be blessed,
Jim