When
I was a young mother, I would get upset with my kids when they wouldn’t listen
to me. Didn’t they understand that what
I was telling them was for their own good; to build good character; that they
needed to do the right thing? But then
who was I? I didn’t listen to my parents
all the time either.
 |
| Isaiah 30:21 |
God
wants us to listen to Him. He wants us to
listen for Him. Sometimes we wonder if God
is listening to our prayers; prayers that are the most important to us; prayers
that are said in a state of pain, anxiety, or desperation. But really, are we listening for God? He may have given an answer and it flew right
over our heads. He may be telling us something about the answer and we are not
listening.
Who
can hear God? Mark 4:23 says “If anyone
has ears to hear, let him hear.” If we
have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we can hear from God. We have to listen
so we can hear God speak to our spirit. When things are going crazy in our
lives and don’t make sense, read God’s Word and God will speak.
John
10:27 says “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.” So
when God speaks, we listen to His voice.
But we have to be paying attention.
How
can we hear God’s voice? Mark 6:31-32
says “And He said
to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded
place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have
time to eat.) They went away in the boat to a secluded
place by themselves.”
If we want to hear from God, we have to
separate ourselves from all the noise in our lives. It’s not any different with people. If I want to hear the Professor give his
lecture and someone is trying to talk to me at the same time, or people behind
me are talking, then I can’t hear. I’m
going to miss the important lecture that I need to hear to pass my exam or to
write my paper.
So it is
with God. When we need to hear from God,
we have to go to a place that’s quiet; a place where we can read God’s Word and
pray. The disciples went to a secluded
place to rest a while. Our minds get so
overwhelmed with the busyness of our day. We need to rest our mind and relax
our spirit. It is then that we can be
ready to hear from God.
How
does God speak? God can speak through His Word, Jesus Christ, creation, other believers, music, circumstances,
Holy Spirit, and prayer. The key is that
in all these ways, we are paying attention.
Another believer may give us advice that can help our situation, but if
we don’t give that person’s advice any thought, we miss what God had to say
through someone else. Some people are
only waiting for God’s voice to come from heaven before they make a
decision. But that is what the Bible is
for, what other people are for, and what the Holy Spirit is for. Sometimes people call it intuition or luck,
but it’s the Holy Spirit speaking into our spirit, prompting us to take a step
of faith.
God
can be working behind the scenes and He is holding back the answer to our
prayers until everything is ready. I
think about a wife preparing her husband’s special meal and making the dining
room very inviting. She has cooked all
day to make his favorite foods. She will be so excited when he sees all that
she has done to make his evening special.
He comes home and is so grateful for all her hard work and for how much
she loves him. He didn’t know that she
was putting this wonderful evening together.
God
is preparing something for us. He has to
put all the right pieces in place before He presents it to us. We may be anxiously waiting for an answer but
when everything is “just right”, God will answer and we will be so grateful for
what He has done for us.
Psalm
29 is titled “The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.”
Verses
3-9 speak about the strength of the voice of the Lord.
3 The voice of the Lord is upon the
waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord is over [d]many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful,
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
And Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord hews out [e]flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord [f]shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord is over [d]many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful,
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
And Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord hews out [e]flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord [f]shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”
There
have been times that I have asked God, “Where are you taking me on this journey
of widowhood?” It doesn’t make sense to
me that God would bring the man I needed to share my life with and then for it
to end in death. God is working
something out behind the scenes and when it is time for me to know, I will be
grateful for what God has done for me.
It takes faith. It takes prayer. It takes patience. It takes trust. And it takes time. That is the hardest part,
the waiting. But when my prayer is
answered, it would be worth the wait as long as I continue to listen for the
voice of the Lord.
Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong
and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.
