HEARING HIS VOICE by Harold Smith | |
"My sheep know and recognize My Voice." |
The people I was involved with had proven themselves to be less than discreet with the information previously given them, so I had come to not trust in their counsel. I felt very alone and very isolated. I was desperate to hear God's direction. With no one to turn to, I went to my room, closed the door, sank to my knees and began to pray - determined that I was not going to leave that cubicle until I had heard from The One who had brought me to this place about what to do next. Little did I know that this was exactly the place where He wanted me to be.
After a couple of hours of praying all that I knew to pray and not getting anywhere, I picked up a Bible from off the nightstand next to my bed, opened it and began to read. It was then that I became aware of a still, small voice speaking from within me that said, "Put the book down and don't pick it up again until I tell you." Absolutely knowing that God would never tell me not to read the Bible, I began to rebuke the devil in all the ways that I had heard others do over the course of my short life among God's people. The voice persisted, however, and after repeatedly commanding the enemy to "be gone in the Name of Jesus" and it stayed, I started to think that maybe this was God after all. So, (remember, I was desperate to hear anything) I laid the Bible back on the nightstand.
Encouraged that something, anything was happening, I began praying out loud and interceding for those persecuting me (wanting to heap fiery coals on their heads). Once more, the same unction arose from within only this time it said, "Be quiet." Again, being absolutely convinced that the Lord would never give me a commandment not to pray, I started rebuking the enemy - louder this time - but, again, that still, small voice persisted when I got quiet enough to listen.
Finally, as I went back and forth wrestling with the thoughts in my head, I became aware that a scripture from Psalm 46, "Be still, and know that I am God;" was floating over and over in my mind. Quieting myself, it became obvious to me that the Holy Spirit was directing me to just be still before the Lord God Almighty. It was with much reverence and humbleness that I then began to comply, not saying or doing anything but merely sitting like a puppy before his owner, waiting on God to speak to me.
Two hours later, I woke up from a sound sleep not having heard anything and left my room very frustrated. But, I was desperate. So, the next day, I went back into my room and began the whole process over again. "Put the book down and don't pick it up again until I tell you," and "Be quiet" kept being repeated to me. After 15 or 20 minutes of complying with this solitude, I again fell asleep. Desperate circumstances call for desperate measures, however, and the situation I was in was driving me back into that room. I had taken some solace in the fact that, at least I was hearing something and slowly, over time, I noticed that two things were beginning to happen. The first was that, with each new day, the time before I fell asleep was getting longer and longer and the second was that I was beginning to become more engaged in a conversation, a communion if you will, with the Lord Jesus. This was not at all what I had expected. I was coming into an awareness that He was speaking to me about the things that concerned me, although, none of what He said was directed at the situation that drove me there in the first place.
He began to make me aware of what my response should be in adverse situations and began to expose the state of my heart, showing me that He has already given me all that I needed to overcome whatever obstacle life could put in my path (II Peter 1:3). So sweet had this communion become that, over time, I found that I was no longer being driven into my room as before. In fact, so rich was the experience, I found that I was actually looking forward with anticipation each day for the time apart when I could leave the worries of the outside world and shut myself away with My Beloved. I started to understand that when He spoke, it was not so much with a voice that I could hear, but it was more like the verse mentioned above in Psalm 46 - a "knowing". I just "knew" what Jesus was speaking to me. As I became familiar with that "knowing" and became obedient to the things He was telling me to do, I found the circumstances I was in began to take on less and less importance in light of the joy I was experiencing in just knowing Him. And I began to understand something I had never understood before - how Jesus could stay "all night in prayer" - when one day, as I looked out my window to see the sun rising, I realized that He, too, had not set out on an all-night marathon, but had just become so engaged in the moment with God that He looked up to remark, "Oh my, where has the time gone, it's dawn!" (Luke 6:12)
One day, about six months after He first told me to "put the book down", as I was in this place of communion with Him, a scripture started running through my mind, but I could not remember all of it - how it read, exactly. I reached over to the nightstand and found the verse in the Bible. As I was reading, it dawned on me what had happened and, in an instant, I realized what the scriptures were for: they are given to us to verify and to reinforce that what we are hearing is truly the Word of God.
Yes, there are many voices out there - believe me, I have heard many of them. What we can trust, however, is that Jesus said that He would give us someone who would "guide us into all truth" - the Holy Spirit (John 14:17). The scriptures state in I John 2:27 that I did not need any man to teach me, and again in John 14:25 that the Holy Spirit would teach me in all things, bringing to my remembrance all the things The Lord has spoken. In other words, if our heart is right toward Him, we can trust the Lord to teach us the truth and He gave the scriptures to validate that truth. If our heart is not right, we can trust Him to reveal that to us as well.
The woman I married could call me on the phone from anywhere in the world, speak one word and I would instantly know her voice. How did that happen? Because I spent a lot of time with that girl and my ear became trained to the sound of her voice. If we are to know and recognize the voice of Jesus, the same dynamic applies - we must spend a lot of time with Him, training our "spiritual ears" to hear Him. There is no substitute for that process. Jesus did it and if we are to walk as He did, then we must as well. But, when we do, then the verse in Proverbs will come alive to us and we will be able to discern Him speaking to us anywhere, anytime. You will hear His voice floating above the noise of the marketplace.
"Wisdom calls out in the street; she raises her voice in the public squares, she cries out above the commotion; she speaks at the entrance of the city gates:" Proverbs 1:20, 21 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
I asked the Lord why He had never spoken like this to me before. His reply informed me that He is and has been speaking to me all the time. I just needed to stop and listen to His "still, small voice" (I Kings 19:12). Hearing God's voice is not restricted to just a few, but is available to all who call upon His Name and is the foundation of our relationship with Him. His desire is that you, too, walk in the fulness of all that He has for you.
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