Have you ever heard from God? Have your heard His sweet words of affection? A quiet nudge of direction? Or that gentle voice of correction? In one of our recent home/care groups we dove into the topic of "hearing from God". And friends, let me tell you that it pushed me. We talked about the myriad of ways that God speaks to us on a daily basis be it through the Bible, impressions, thoughts, dreams, prophecy, and so much more. It led me to seek out these conversations everyday. Like a treasure hunt, piecing together the message that He had for me that day. Having been exposed to all the ways that our Father communicates with us, allowed me to dive into a deeper relationship with Him. I had always thought that He spoke to us, but I felt that the Bible was really the only way the I could hear from Him. I hadn't been given the gift of prophecy so actually hearing from Him was out of the question. Or was it.
I have read it described by many people as a whisper or even your own voice, while others can't quite describe it. After having but a handful of experiences, I can kind of agree with it all. I have also decided that God has probably spoken to all of us many times over but we don't realize it at first because it can be so quiet or sound like your own voice that we often push it aside or just take it as our own.
So if you agree with me that He speaks to us, than why? Why did that certain scripture keep repeating itself to you today? Or have you had a "feeling" that you should take a different way to work and realize later that a huge accident happened and the odds would have been high that you would have been involved or tangled up in the traffic from it. Or you had a person come up to you and just give you a bit of encouragement when you were especially down and feeling defeated. I have had all of those happen to me, many times over. But again, why?
We were created by a loving God for a specific purpose. He spent all this time creating a world for us and putting each one of specifically here, at this moment, why would He not want to talk to us? In our care group, we highlighted what we believed were the four core reasons God speaks: affection, direction, correction, and protection. Easy enough, right? Just like parents, when we raise our children we strive to protect them in all circumstances, we help guide them and chart a direction for their lives, we provide correction to teach them what is right, and of course, we shower them with our affection. Our heavenly Father is the same.
I have mentioned in another post about being directed to "open the doors and let them in." I have heard the voice of direction but a few times, and it is just that, direct and to the point. Almost a command. I don't know if it is the same for everyone else, but I know what to expect when He is calling me to action. The second voice I have heard is the voice of correction. Whether or not God has different voices I just don't know, but I felt that the approach was different. To me, that voice of correction was very gentle yet it grabbed me and I felt it in the core of my being. It was a gentle whisper, and it caused me to take pause and reassess...there was no shame in it because I knew it was needed. When relating the incident to a friend, I equated it to how [it is described when] Jesus spoke to Martha. The gentle way he corrected her.
Have you heard from God lately? Are you purposefully listening? God has a message for us, but it doesn't always come easily. It's not waiting in your inbox or on your facebook feed (I understand that you can be encouraged that way, don't get me wrong) - but I think that to truly have a relationship with our Father, you must put in the time. I don't mean logging a certain number of minutes in your Bible each day...but to make time to read and pray everyday. To seek out His guidance and then look for it. Tune out the distractions in life that can cloud our minds. Be in communication with Him each day, He is listening and waiting.
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