If you are listening, then how does God speak?

In last week’s blog, Are you listening?, we discussed the importance of being quiet and paying attention in order to hear God speak. I challenged you to find some alone time with God to just listen. For me, God speaks in that still small voice. It is an internal hearing, not audible to my external ears. Some might call it intuition, Source, The Divine or the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t matter what you call it. What matters is that you pay attention to it.

As you continue looking for how God is speaking to you, it might be helpful to look at how God has spoken to others. In Job 42:1-5,  the Lord says, ‘Listen now, and I will speak’ . Job responds, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” Imagine how Job felt realizing up until that moment he had only heard of God. When God speaks into your life, God is no longer someone you’ve heard of. Now you know God for yourself. That’s what happened with Job.

In Genesis 37, we meet Joseph, son of Jacob. God spoke to Joseph through dreams. These dreams set him on a path he did not fully understand. From betrayal to slavery and palace to prison, God was always with him. Because he listened to God, he had success everywhere he went. In Acts 2:17 NIV, God says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” We are those people, seeing visions and dreaming dreams. 

One morning, as I leaned into my bathroom mirror applying my makeup, God allowed me to see a little bit of my future. It was as if HE parted the veil. God showed me the book I would write; The Me Disease, the colors of the book cover and the twelve chapter titles. Rushing to my computer, I plopped down and began typing as fast I could. I was hoping to capture it all before it vanished like vapor. The experience was so surreal. Yet I sit here today almost ready to share it with you. Updates coming soon, I promise.

God speaks in all sorts of ways and has for generations. Look at how HE first spoke to Moses through a burning bush. Can you imagine? And when God spoke to Elijah, the prophet, it wasn’t in the wind, earthquake or fire. It was in that still small voice. It’s miraculous when God speaks to ordinary people. But HE does. HE did it then and HE is still speaking today.

In Matthew 3:13-17 NIV,we read, as soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

I think we would all love to hear those words from God. Whether it is visions or dreams or that still small voice, God speaks. The question is are we listening? Those words spoken to Jesus could very well be spoken to us. It’s not that far fetched. God loves us so much that HE gave that same Son as a sacrifice for us all.

As you continue through your day, take note of how God might be speaking to you. It could be an internal hearing, down deep inside. A nudge, a vision, the wind, a song, a billboard message that seems to be addressed specifically to you. God is speaking. And suddenly, in that moment, when you finally hear God, you understand, “my ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” Now you know. Praise be to the God.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, let our eyes be opened to visions and dreams. Let ours ears hear your still small voice. And let us see you in a brand new way. In Jesus name. Amen. -M