Hearing His Voice!

Is.30:20-21, ‘And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of ^[f]affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.²¹ Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.’

Faith life is not an easy way. It does not assure us of being free from challenges . But the Lord has assured us of one thing i.e His still small voice which will continually guide us, strengthen us and lead us to victory after victory in all situations. God has given us His Word. And through this Word, He has enabled us to have a great relation with God. Being led by His Word is a great victory of our lives. The one who is unable to hear this voice or who misses it, misses great blessings and purposes of life. Let us look into few lives and learn how they were able to discern and follow the still small voice and as a result how they overcame and were blessed.

Gen.22:11, But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” Abraham, who was called the father of nations had an amazing faith life. He literally followed the still small voice of the invisible God all through His life. When he was asked to offer Isaac as sacrifice, there was every possibility to miss this voice. For the pain of a father offering his only son is surely overwhelming. But Abraham’s trust in God was too deep. He made sure that the pain would not make him miss His voice. He clinged to God’s presence more than to his son whom he would offer. He clinged to the promises of the Lord and spoke words of faith. Hence even as he took the knife to slay him, his ears were able to hear and discern the voice from heaven. The pain of any earthly father in a similar situation would have overwhelmed his heart to the extent, that it would have blocked the voice from the heaven from reaching his ears. And had he missed that voice, Abraham and Isaac would have missed the greatest divine provision and would have gone through much unwanted greater pain. In the midst of the painful circumstances, let our ears be inclined to hear from Him. Let us realize that missing His voice is a greater pain. Let us trust Him that He will never allow any pain that we cannot bear.

1 Sam.3:10, ‘Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” Samuel was brought to the temple of God by his mother, Hannah as she had made a vow to the Lord regarding the same. Eli, the priest and his sons had backslided and were leading a life, not fearing the holiness of God. Samuel boy was not seeing his teachers talking about any visions. He had not known the Lord till then. And the time came when the Lord revealed Himself to the boy. He called him by his name four times. The amazing part is that the little Samuel responded to His voice all the four times. Even though he could not see anything by responding  the first two times, he again and again responded. The Lord finally spoke to him only in the 4^th time. Had the boy Samuel stopped responding to God’s voice in the 2^nd or even 3^rd time, seeing that it was not leading him anywhere, he would have missed the greatest blessing of stepping into his great calling of being a prophet. The Lord might have had tested him by calling him four times. At times, we might feel that even by responding to God’s call and serving Him, we are not reaching anywhere in specific. But God has a way and a time to bless us in every way. Let us not be weary of responding to God’s calling. At the right time, He will lead us to deeper and richer spiritual blessings. Let not the spiritual dryness pull us back or discourage us in anyway. They are our testing grounds. Let us faithfully respond to Him and not miss His voice that leads us to greater blessings, that is yet to come.

‘1 Kings 19:11-12, ‘Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire ^[e]a still small voice.’  Prophet Elijah did a great work for the Lord. He stood all alone for the Lord, and killed the prophets of Baal,  but soon after that he fled away into the wilderness. His heart was filled with fear when he heard the threatening words of Jezebel. Till then the prophet who was led by the voice of God was now far away from same. Waves of fear blocked the Lord’s voice from reaching his ears. But God’s mercy chased him and restored him. The Lord first had to calm the prophet to a level, when he would be able to hear the still small voice of God. Elijah kept highlighting on his being all alone and jealous for the Lord and how his life was being sought after. But God remained silent on these factors and patiently pointed out to 7000 lives who had not bowed down before Baal. The prophet was humbled. Had he missed the Lord’s voice, the mission for his life would have been left half way. Had the Lord not had mercy on him and not restored him, he might have never heard the Lord’s voice again.

We note here how the overwhelming pain, spiritual dryness and fear can make us miss His voice. Abraham overcame by clinging to His presence in the most painful time of his life. Samuel overcame by responding to God faithfully and unconditionally. And in case of Elijah, God’s mercy restored him by calming his fears and enabling to hear His voice again. It’s His voice that strengthens us in our weakest times, comforts us and guides us into His promises. Let us tune our ears to hear from Him in all situations and be blessed overcomers.

God bless us all

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