The Voice of God

In a world filled with so much noise, it is hard to hear the voice of God. No matter where we turn there are always voices telling us what we should do and how we should do it. With so many voices it can be hard to know which ones are of the Lord and which ones are not. When we give media, our friends, and even our selfish intentions the right to influence our decisions it has gone too far. We convince ourselves that we are heading the voice of God to make us feel better but in reality, it is not of God at all. We can limit the other voices but we cannot get rid of them completely so we must be aware of the influence they have in our lives and not let them overshadow the voice of God.

As believers in the world today we must work tirelessly to distinguish between the voice of God and the voices of everything else around us. We must work hard to better understand how God speaks to us. We know that God speaks to us through His word and through His servants but He is not limited in the way He can speak to us. God is in control of everything meaning He can use everything to speak to us and is not limited in His reach. So even when we pull away or run from Him we are never out of His reach.

If we turn to the Bible we can see many examples of how God speaks to His people. First, we see examples of when God made His voice heard or seen in a big way. Samuel was awoken from his sleep by the power of God’s voice. Moses could physically see, hear, and feel the power of God’s voice in the burning bush. Jonah was definitely listening to God after he spent a few nights in a smelly fish. On the road to Damascus, Saul’s life was forever changed when the power and light of God’s voice blinded him. Those are just a few of the examples of when God used His outdoor voice to get the attention of His people, but there are just as many stories of when God used His whisper to direct His people. In 1 Kings 19:11-13, Elijah experiences God’s voice in a softer way. “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ” We learn from all of these stories that God can use anything around us to speak to us. He doesn’t always use His big loud thunderous voice, sometimes He uses the gentle whisper to get our attention. God doesn’t always use large life events to get out attention and to speak to us. Many times He will use the small things to direct our path and lead us.

If we stop and pay attention we can see that God is speaking to us daily. He is guiding our paths without us even knowing. It might be with a loud thunderous voice or a gentle whisper but God is speaking to us every single day. Are we listening close enough to hear Him?

Lastly, I want to give you this challenge. Examine the voices you are hearing in your life. Are they from the Lord or from somewhere else? It is of utmost importance to pay attention to the influences in our lives and make sure that they are of the Lord. We must keep our eyes, ears, and thoughts on God and His ways and not the ways of the world. God is trying to speak to us and can use the big and small things in our lives to draw us closer to Him.