Talking God

Does God speak to you?  That’s a very relevant question because we are called to love, serve, obey and enjoy God.  It is then reasonable to conclude that, if we are to do those things, it is necessary for us to hear from Him.  From time to time this issue pops up in a discussion and I’ve learned that there are a couple of schools of thought concerning whether or not God still speaks.

1. God speaks to us today solely from His Word.  Anything beyond the written word is purely subjective and dangerous for those who trust in beyond-the-bible communication from the Lord.

2. God speaks in everything and, if one will simply purpose to listen, one may hear God in nature, an innocent child, music and anything else that emanates from Him.

3. God speaks to us through revelations, angels, visions, dreams and hard-to-define spiritual experiences.

4. God speaks to us in the inner voice, our consciences.  The Holy Spirit lives within each believer and inclines our thoughts towards certain conclusions, ideas and teachings.  In essence, God speaks to us through us.

There are likely some additional ideas about whether or not He is speaking still today but most of the people I have dialogued with fall into the groups above.  I’m not going to poke holes in the ones I disagree with today because what I’m more interested in is to stir you up with the question, “Are you hearing from the Lord these days?” When we read our bibles we find that there is irrefutable support for the belief that God is active in communication.  Some 109 times the ESV translation reveals that “the word of the Lord came unto” various individuals.  The KJV uses the phrase 92 times.  I do find it noteworthy that this particular expression is not used at all in our New Testament where the emphasis seems to move from an audible voice from Heaven to God speaking through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the writings of the Apostles.  Having said that we should also note that the book of Acts includes multiple accounts of God speaking to individuals with an audible voice, a vision, or an angelic visitor.  Let’s also acknowledge that the entire book of Revelation is nothing but divine communication from Heaven to the Apostle John concerning the end of time.  Can we agree that God is still interested in communicating to us in ways that leave us certain about his desire for our lives?  Would He really speak to you about you?

We study the Word because we know it is a trustworthy source of God’s revealed will.  Each of us engages in prayer because we believe that, in communicating with God, we will discern His “voice” on specific issues that are vital.  Do we not fast in order to gain clarity from Him?  What should we call those moments when we are reading a book or listening to a song or viewing nature’s grandeur and we find ourselves stilled in our soul or confident about something that had previously troubled us?  Can we attribute this to God?  Has He deposited something within us by way of spiritual communication?  I listen to preaching as often as I can and it has never occurred to me that God would not speak to me through the voice of a man behind a pulpit with his bible opened.  While I’m thinking about it, let’s remember that God delivered an important message through a donkey (2 Peter 2:16).  Maybe we should be cautious in declaring how the Almighty will and won’t speak to us.  Maybe we aren’t hearing from Him at times because we are aiming our ears in the wrong direction.

Speaking truthfully, I am under-qualified to parse out all of these things.  Let me tell you what I do know by way of biblically-tested experience: God created us for intimate interaction with Him and this most definitely involves communication.  Jesus has the title of The Word – isn’t this significant?  More times than I can count over these years of walking with Christ, God has communicated to me His desire, His decrees and His direction.  There is nothing that encourages me more than to have a clear understanding of what my Lord wants so that I may glorify him with faithful obedience.  Some of my most difficult days have been when He has either chosen not to speak or when my discernment is clouded by sin.  Yet, even in those trying times my Bible is available and I can open any page and know that along the ancient spectrum of time, God had something to say and He preserved it for us there.  My bible is my most reliable source of knowing what the Lord desires.  I encourage you to go there today.

I need a word from the Lord in these days.  I cannot deny this.  Let us pray for one another that we will hear Him clearly.  Let us be wise and careful to not allow anything inferior to speak in his place.  By the way…is He asking why we don’t speak to Him?