RECOGNIZING GOD'S VOICE

Job 31:1-33:33; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18; Psalm 43:1-5; Proverbs 22:8-9

“God is greater than any human being. So why are you bringing a charge against him? Why say he does not respond to people’s complaints? For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. He makes them turn from doing wrong; he keeps them from pride.”

“But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

“Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me.  Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live. There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!”

I was having a dinner with friends a couple of weeks ago, and a question came up about how to recognize the voice of God. Now, not being an expert in the matter, I was unaware of any hard and fast rules. There probably aren’t any. (Leave a comment if you’ve got any ideas for the rest of us!) But I do have experience in listening for God. More important, I know well what it feels like to think I understand what the Lord wants done and to end up regretting my failure to obey. So, to try to improve my sensitivity, I started keeping score. When I believe the Lord has spoken, I make a mental note of it. Whether or not I follow the direction or inspiration – I’m not sure how to describe it – I also keep track of my response and the result. What I’ve discovered is pretty stunning. Every time I’ve gone against what seemed at the time to have been divine prompting, my decision turned out badly. On the other hand, not once when I have obeyed have I been disappointed in the results. That’s not to say I have seen a lot of extremely positive developments from obedience. Work’s still work, after all. However, obedience does seem to keep me out of trouble, and that’s getting to be enough. Avoiding major screw ups, coupled with a deeper sense of peace about where I am and what I’m doing, actually is a pretty decent way to live. Anxiety is kept to a minimum. Joy finds it easier to get a foothold. There’s still stress – of course, there is – but it is easier to manage and even set aside on occasion.

I suppose one could argue I’m just engaging in a little reverse spiritual engineering, judging potential inspiration by its apparent results. But that’s not how it feels. It feels like I’m getting better at sensing the Holy Spirit’s input. It feels like intentional attention is paying off. It feels like practice, while I am far from perfect, is at least improving my chances of keeping in the Father’s Will.

There isn’t any way to really explain what Christ’s voice sounds like. It’s not audible exactly. It’s quite honestly like thoughts are just being inserted in my brain that I didn’t think. But the thoughts I attribute to the Spirit all have one thing in common: they do not reconcile well with what I want to do. They sometimes even seem illogical (but then, what’s logical about love?). Invariably, though, they save me from myself.

Maybe God doesn’t really communicate with us at all, at least not in the sense I’m talking about it today. But maybe He does. And what if He does? What if our problem is just that we aren’t hearing Him? I, for one, would hate to learn when I get to heaven that the Lord had been trying to lead me through life’s rougher waters, and I turned a deaf ear. It seems to me the only logical course is to do whatever it takes to listen to God and do our best to obey. Who knows? We might just surprise ourselves, even as our Savior surprises us.