Seeing and Hearing God in Your Life

Sometimes I’ll spend a short amount of time on social media, and I can see how it could be a time vacuum. This along with other things may keep us from the life we are supposed to be experiencing. I often wonder if spiritually, that is intentional. But, every now and then I come across something neat or thought provoking and think to myself, well that wasn’t a total waste of time. I’ve seen writings like the following on a few sites and shared this particular concept to friends, some I’ll see in heaven, and some I’m not too sure of, yet. The following (paraphrased) post compares God’s voice and what He tells us, to what the devil tells us.

If you listen, God’s voice: Stills you, leads you, reassures you, enlightens you, encourages you, comforts you, calms you, convicts you.

If you listen, the Devil’s voice: Rushes you, pushes you, frightens you, confuses you, discourages you, worries you, obsesses you, condemns you.

Of course, I enjoy the simplicity of these comparisons, and decided to look and see where in God’s word did these come from. Granted, I found a bunch, and maybe not enough to cover each of those attributes. My attention was also all over the map as I discovered and wrote the following. I suggest you try to find some too. I also did see enough to verify that these simple statements are not the Bible, but true nonetheless. Here is what I found, from the ESV.

John 8:47 says, “Whoever is of God, hears the word of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” And, Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

So, before you can even know God’s voice, you have to know there is a God. You also need to understand that we would not know there is any concept of what is good without God’s word telling us. If there is no God, cutting us through the heart knowing good from evil, how do we know the difference? Forgive me but, evolving doesn’t explain how we know this seemingly simple concept. Ok, sorry, on to the voices I hear, wait! You know what I mean.

In Jeremiah 33:3, God says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” I would call that enlightening, maybe even leading. Speaking of that…, in Isaiah, 30:21, it says, “...and your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” In this part of Isaiah, God is simply telling His people about different circumstances they can and will find themselves in, and that if they follow God’s way to walk through these times, He will take care of them, lead them. In Psalm 119:105 the writer states, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” When we follow God’s way of things there is no darkness and we can see where we are headed, even with turmoil all around.

In 1 Kings 19:13 God asks Elijah in a quiet still voice, “What are you doing here?” This is after Elijah kills all the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, really making Jezebel and Ahab mad, setting out to kill him. So, Elijah runs and hides and experiences wind that tears apart rocks, earthquakes, and fire. But God is not in all this power of nature, He comes with a still quiet voice, and says, What’s up? Why are you here? Then God tells Elijah what to do, and how to set up one who will come after him as prophet. With this calmness, stillness, in chaos, God sets Elijah up for the rest of his days until he is taken up to heaven without dying. There is a picture in the overall story there of eternal life promised for us, when we believe in God, follow His ways, and accept the sacrifice Jesus gave for us; knowing only God could save us from our sin. We do not have the capacity. With this we can be still because God is God, and we do not have to be.

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” This verse alone speaks of teaching, leading, convicting, amongst others, and it shows that the entire work of the Bible is for us to use to be as God intended, like Jesus. But, believers know that is not easy.

In John 10:27-28, Jesus is speaking with His posse and He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” When you believe, you are His sheep and follow His way of living. You have life, not death, without being taken away from God - the creator of everything. I feel quite calm, comforted, encouraged and reassured with that thought. But, what, or who tries to steal these thoughts, feelings and spirit from me? Who is trying to prevent me from being still?

The devil is often called a thief in the Bible and in John 10:10, God says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” That kind of covers much, if not all of what the devil will tell you from the social post above. In John 8:44, while Jesus is speaking to those who are doubting who He really is and who His followers are, He says, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” In Genesis 3:1 as Eve was being tempted, “He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Then she did, and we are living out the rest, not innocently. So, the devil will speak in lies and in confusion, leading us to death or separation from God. Often, when we are thinking and moving too fast. Working to make things right, fearful of what could happen.

In Hebrews 2:14-15, while talking about how Jesus is really fully human, God’s word addresses the biggest fear most humans have; “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Most of us are paralyzed by the thought of dying; occupationally, physically, socially, mentally, etc. We all know of times when we or others did not do something for fear of losing some status in those areas just mentioned. I am not sure which classical writer said that a coward dies a thousand deaths. Each time we cowardly compromise our choices in life to avoid losing something in our jobs, or friendships, whatever, we are “dying.” We believers are of God, and should fear no evil but, we do. Which is why God came to us, through Jesus' life, and all He did for us while He was here. So, if you believe in Him and want to see God in your life, John 14:21 clearly states, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” God will show Himself to us when we do this.

There are many instances when I have tried to obey Him, and have often seen God’s presence in my life. When Teri and I were planning our wedding, we bought a mess of stuff from Harris Teeter. When I got home I noticed that we were significantly undercharged from our receipt. So I went back to the store and informed them. The manager was grateful and kind as we were just being honest and forthright because that is how we believe we should act. As the tent was being set up (we had a backyard wedding reception) the rental company asked us if we could take a much larger one (with no extra charge) as someone ordered a tent that was too big for their yard. They told me that it was a brand new tent which was only used once before. So, it was pristine and not weather stained at all. This added to the beauty of an already beautiful day when we were married. But, the story doesn’t end with that. As I said, we planned a backyard event which means we were outside. So, we gambled on the weather being favorable. Our original tent that we ordered was half the size of the one eventually delivered because of the switch. So, we had this gigantic tent in my yard which was all God because it rained all day on our wedding! Without the tent, half of the people that came would have been out in the downpour - if they would have stayed at all. All our family and friends have fond memories of being together that day under God’s protection. Now, I can’t prove that our previous behavior choices saved our reception from being washed out. I only have circumstances and something called “faith,” which gives me strength, always. This strength also dictates my behavior choices. Sadly, we all can identify times when we were weak, or cowards, we didn’t show, or choose wisely and wondered where God was as things fell apart. I also cannot prove that that is why bad things happen. I know it says in Romans that all things work together for good for those who are the called (believers), or something to that effect. So, I just walk through this existence listening to God, doing what He asks, when He asks because, God also says in His word (I’ll let you look this one up on your own,) that he doesn’t want our sacrifice, only our obedience. Good or bad, you can’t work for heaven with Him. So, simply put, if you want to experience God in your life, simply follow His voice.