“Our failure to hear His voice when we want to is due to the fact that we do not in general want to hear it, that we want it only when we think we need it.”
― Dallas Willard, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God
How many times have we seen someone going through a trial and they repeatedly say, "I can't hear God. He is not saying anything." I get this picture of the enemy with his hands over their ears and he is laughing. I have found it is in those moments of deepest pain that God speaks the loudest, if we can only quiet the cries of our hearts for a minute and truly listen. Often I say to Him in those moments, "I don't want to hear the enemy and I don't want to hear my flesh, God I only want to hear your voice." That's when through Him the pain fades just enough that I can hear Him clearly and in those times of deep pain is when the greatest lessons are learned and the Comforter shows up.
I learned a lesson the other night on the subject of "My sheep hear My voice." I feel God is taking me to a new level in Him, but that also means a new level in the enemies fight to get in between me and God. I was lying in bed the other night having great conversation with the Lord, when He suddenly said, "Go outside. I want to show you something." I'm not sure why, probably because I was so interested in what we were talking about that I ignored His statement and we continued our conversation. When He said it again, I jumped up and went outside. I plugged in my ear buds, put on a good worship song and waited and waited and waited. As the song ended I finally heard Him, "Did you really think that was me?" WHAT? Are you kidding me? That wasn't You? He then asked, "Do you really think I would interrupt myself?" Seriously, I was embarrassed. He was talking to me, we were having great conversation, why would He interrupt Himself like that? He explained that the enemy succeeded in stopping our conversation. I almost panicked. God, how many times have I thought it was You when it wasn't? You have told me to go before because you have something to show me. This changes everything. But He said not to panic. He said, I don't order you to go look, because I have something to show you, I always ask, Would you like to see something? Wow, it's true. I should have recognized by the way He said it, it was not Him. The enemy imitates Christ to fool us and that he did. I was upset for a while, but God showed me that the enemy was stepping up his tactics, because the Lord is taking me to new places.
We don't recognize a voice only by the sound. People have different vocabularies, different words they use. Would I recognize my own child's voice if I heard her in the next room speaking a foreign language? I probably wouldn't even pay attention, because I would not expect to hear her speaking another language. His voice doesn't always come in sound either. The Lord also speaks through our bodies. For instance, I get a burning in my stomach when He wants me to speak something out. I get a pain in my ear when the demonic is near. I know, this all sounds crazy, but do you really think God and the angels speak English to each other? Is there any sound at all when they communicate? The more intimate we are with someone, the less we have to speak. I have friends that can look at me in a certain way and I know what they are saying to me. We all do. Communication is much more than the spoken word.
Some people go so far as to say God is always gentle. I don't believe it. He has been gentle with me every time I go to Him in submission. When I ask forgiveness for sin, He will even gently explain to me why I did it. But, I have at times directly disobeyed and heard Him loud and clear tell me to "Stop right now". It didn't feel so gentle. Though once I step back into obedience, He steps back into gentleness.
You learn to recognize His voice through relationship. That is what He wants. He wants us to know it is Him when He speaks to us and He wants us to learn His voice. He will not allow the enemy to interfere with this lesson, though He may allow a little interference to teach us to hear Him clearly. We will all be mistaken at times and it is through being wrong occasionally that we get more right with Him. If you doubt you hear His voice, try this. Ask Him to tell you something He wants you to know. Then clear your mind and wait. I always know it's Him because He will usually tell me something I have not thought about at all or in years. He wants us to be in relationship with Him more than anything and in order to do that, we need to spend time communicating. Talks don't always have to be serious and deep. Take a walk and invite Him along. Ask questions and then listen and watch. He may use a bird, a cloud or a still small voice.
“Hunger for God compels us to seek the Lord. At times our desire for God overcomes our physical desires, and the ache for God is palpable. Throughout the Scriptures, God is faithful to reward those who search for him. Written during one of King David's low points, while living on the run in the wilderness, he cries, "Oh God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Though David hides in the wilderness, he doesn't stay there physically or spiritually. When we seek God with our whole hearts and souls, he promises to reveal himself to us." -Hungry for God”
― Margaret Feinberg, Hungry for God: Hearing God's Voice in the Ordinary and the Everyday
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