“YES! ABSOLUTELY!!”

Have you ever wanted to hear from God?  Undoubtedly, the answer is, “YES! ABSOLUTELY!!”  Whether it is an employment decision, relationship guidance, or an explanation for tragedy, we have had multiple moments in our lives when we wanted to hear from God.  While God may not speak audibly to us today, He still speaks.  He speaks through His Word and by His Holy Spirit.  The Spirit grants Christians access to the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:11-16).  Even though God still speaks, many Christians don’t hear His voice. 

First Kings 19:11-18 provides us with perspective on hearing the voice of God.  Elijah is depressed and feels abandoned.  The Word of the Lord comes to him and instructs him to stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord.  As Elijah is on the mountain a great strong wind passes by, but God was not in the wind.  A powerful earthquake and a fire also occur, but God was not in either of those.  Finally there is a soft whisper and behold, God was in the whisper. 

​We want God to yell at us.  We want Him to shout out the solutions to our problems.  We expect Him to scream to get our attention.  So the issue is not that God is not speaking.  I believe the real issue is that we cannot hear Him because we are expecting Him to communicate in a way different from how He typically communicates.  Think about it.  Why do people yell and shout?  It is typically for one of two reasons: there is a great distance between them and person with whom they are communicating, or the environment is so loud that they have to yell.  That means that God shouldn’t have to yell at us. 
James teaches that when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. God wants us close to Him.  Our relationship with God should be so intimate that we can hear Him whisper to our spirit.  God wants us to have lives that are not full of noise.  Many of us can’t hear God because we are listening to the shouting of the culture.  When we are of the world, we are unable to hear the voice of God.  So if you want to hear God speak, turn off the voices of the world that are creating noise in your spirit.  The noise of busyness, media, worry, and worldliness.  Get to a quiet place.  Then get closer to God.  Draw near to Him; so close that you can hear God whisper.