A Re-Post on Listening to G_d.
But what I would like to say is that the spiritual life is a life in which you gradually learn to listen to a voice that says something else, that says, “You are the beloved and on you my favour rests.”… I want you to hear that voice. It is not a very loud voice because it is an intimate voice. It comes from a very deep place. It is soft and gentle. I want you to gradually hear that voice. We both have to hear that voice and to claim for ourselves that that voice speaks the truth, our truth. It tells us who we are. That is where the spiritual life starts – by claiming the voice that calls us the beloved.
~Henri J. M. Nouwen
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.
~ Jesus The Messiah, in John 10.
Sometimes this writer is ashamed at his lack of faith.
Over and over and over throughout my life, He has spoken clearly about what i was supposed to do, or what was going to happen. He has done this since i was a child, and i have never been led astray by His voice. Oh, i have superimposed my own voice like some sort of ventriloquist in my own head. But, even as i’ve done it, i’ve known what i was doing.
All along the way, too, there has been His unbreakable decoder tool called The Word of God, to be a very clear filter to know whether what we hear is from Him.
And so, by His grace, i have watched Him do things like put my family into a house that was almost four times larger than the one we lived in – for less money. All this, after i simply followed His verbal request to ask Him.
One time, on the mission field overseas we were stuck financially, and sure enough, that check for something like $843 showed up from a church we had never heard of, in a state i had never been. How much did we need? Well, i thought it was like $841 (i must have been wrong).
And daily, He tells me when to speak, where to go, and guides my thinking on issues. He plays out Scripture in my mind like some platform and then simply continues the conversation. Have no doubt beloved, i spend time in the Word 3-4 times a day and have hidden quite a bit of it in my heart. The point is, He has some material to work with. And this has been vital in the process of learning to hear Him ever more clearly.
Also, He has answered a specific kind of prayer that i pray almost daily. When i roll out of bed onto my knees on the floor, i simply ask that my thoughts would be His thoughts, that my words would be His words, that i would see things with His eyes and that my hands and feet would simply be His. And as details arise, as He gives me grace, i earnestly pray that His will (not mine) would be done. He answers sincere prayers like this.
On and on it goes. He has even literally sent me to another country, to meet a specific kid and lead that kid to Jesus. He has also given the Ps. 16:11 ministry a clear target number for those that He will reach through the leadership. And already, there is fruit being born across continents. We have no idea how these things are going to happen. We simply know them to be true.
Those of us that actually hear Him speaking are no better than anyone else. Perhaps we are the weaker brothers who need very clear instructions to inform our faith. Those stronger in faith, perhaps, can just read His Word and sense what they are supposed to do.
But even in all this, i still falter for a moment sometimes. But, i pray after today, that is done. No more equivocating. No more hedging. G_d is absolutely able to do whatever He says He is going to do. And there is nothing we can do to mess that up! This is very good news! Surely, if it depended on us, we would be in trouble. Thankfully though, it is all about Him!
The circumstances and names are not important right now. But suffice it to say, that He spoke so clearly that He gave me the person’s (whom i did not know) name, definitively distinguishing characteristics, age, life status AND led me to ask another person if they might know a person like this…. The statistical probabilities get pretty thin here.
And, as i walked right into it this morning, it played out in front of this surprised third-person, who just said, “oh wow, the hair is standing up on the back of my neck.” Stand by for the full story some day when it is more appropriate to share the details.
Stick a fork in me friends. i am done equivocating. G_d speaks to us. We have but to listen, obey and enjoy the blessings that come from following His leading in our lives. He is the One who brings about His own good and perfect will. Shall we not join Him fully!?!?
Not as I will, but as thou wilt. To be able to say these words and truly mean them is the highest point we can ever hope to attain. Then, indeed, we have broken out of time’s hard shell to breathe, not its stale air, but the fresh, exhilarating atmosphere of eternity.
~Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
