Hearing God

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day...
~ Genesis 3:8

And He said, Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire was a still, small voice. ~ 1 Kings 19:11-12

And the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend....
~ Exodus 33:11

Truly, truly, I say to you, He who does not enter into the sheepfold by the door, but going up by another way, that one is a thief and a robber. But he who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens to him, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him. For they know his voice. And they will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. ~ John 10:1-5

As a child, I conversed with Jesus. I have snippets of memories of those conversations. I did not hear Him with my natural ears, but in my heart. It made perfect sense to me, since I had been told that Jesus lived in my heart. I heard Him with the faith of a child and did not question, until the notions of a doubting world began to creep into my thinking. "Only crazy people hear God." "Who do you think you are, that God would speak to you?" "After all, they burned Joan of Arc for thinking she heard God." I have no distinct memories of being told these things, but the ideas got in and took hold. I stopped listening. I began to think of prayer as a one-sided conversation. I prayed, God listened. Yet, in the depths of my heart, He still spoke. I was just too afraid to hear. I was afraid to be "different" or "crazy". I was afraid of being deceived. So, I went through life wearing spiritual ear plugs.

Ten years ago, I found myself in a new church and surrounded by people who spoke very casually about "hearing God." I cannot express the joy that rose in my heart to hear such conversations. I so desperately wanted to hear the Lord again. But I was still so bound in fear. And I had so many questions. Could I really hear God? Was it OK to hear God? How would I know it was really Him? Was I crazy? Gradually, I found the answers to my questions in the Bible, in the scriptures above and so many more. I learned that the Lord loves to speak to us. He created us for relationship, for fellowship. Conversing is part of that.

Our ability to hear the Lord is bound to our relationship with Him. The more you know God (not just know about Him), the deeper your relationship grows and the clearer His voice becomes. This is best accomplished through His Word. Reading the Bible not only teaches us about God, but it draws us into a living, growing fellowship with Him. The Word is alive. Jesus is the Word made flesh. When we commune with the Word, we commune with God. Draw close to Him and He will draw close to you. One of the ways that I retrained my heart to hear God was by reading the Word with Him. I would read scripture and ask the Lord questions. Understanding would always come. That is His voice. Sometimes I would hear through words spoken to my heart, but other times I would just know. It's an amazing thing to suddenly have understanding of something that you did not possess a second earlier. That is God.

So, how do you know that it really is God? First of all, He will never contradict His written Word. That's how we know that God will never tell someone to kill their child or commit adultery or to spread gossip. Because those are all behaviors that He condemns in His Word. Also, God will never tell you anything that goes against His character and nature. God is love (1 John 4:8). He will not speak outside of love. But, remember that God is bound by His definition of love, not ours. We don't always like the corrective nature of love, but it is so necessary to our well-being. Seek love and you will hear God's voice.

When I sincerely began to seek God's voice, I was terrified of being deceived and going off on some wild goose doctrine and completely messing up my life. That fear got in my way. Fear opposes faith and we must have faith to hear God. Reading scripture built faith in me that I could hear and I would hear correctly. It also built faith in God's ability to correct me if I went wrong. There have been several occasions that I made wrong decisions based on what I thought was God's voice. But in every one of those situations, I saw God's hand of protection. That doesn't mean there wasn't pain or discomfort or regret; but God turned every one of those situations to my good, just as He promises in Romans 8:28. Those mistakes also helped me to distinguish the Lord's voice more clearly. We tend to learn more from our mistakes than our successes.

In my own experience, my greatest difficulty to hear God's voice is when my own will or motives get in the way. If I am double-minded about a decision, it's difficult to hear. If my will is strongly set on something to be a certain way, it's difficult to hear. If my motives are selfish and impure, it's impossible to hear. Surrender is the only way. I am learning to surrender my will and my motives. To want God's will more deeply than anything else. When I can get to that place (usually after long struggles and many tears), His voice comes so clearly. And when I'm struggling, I ask for His help. I ask Him to make His voice clear to me. And He does.

One of my favorite things about the Lord is how He speaks to people so personally. He speaks to me so much through His Word, but also through nature, painting, movies, parenting and writing - the very things that I enjoy and understand. He speaks to Rick through mechanics. He speaks to others I know through computers, video games, music, poetry, cooking, and so many other ways. He cares about our lives and wants to connect with us in personal ways to which we can relate.

In the Old Testament, God was only able to speak through His prophets, a very select few. But, since Jesus, every believer has the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to connect us with our Father. Every one of us has the ability to hear and know His voice. Our covenant is so much greater than that of the prophets of old. It is our Lord's delight to converse with us, teach us, give us wisdom and guidance and comfort. He loves us. He wants to speak with us. I have such a reverential awe of the Lord, that I marvel at His desire to speak to me. I never want to lose that or to take His voice for granted. I am eternally grateful for His desire to have a relationship with me.

I once heard comedienne Lily Tomlin say, "Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic?" I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair. It hit home. I guess I have finally reached the point in my life that if I must choose between hearing my Lord's voice or being thought of as sane, I will choose to hear Him. Call me crazy if you want, but I hear the Lord laughing and saying, "Oh Carol, it's about time."