When I started listening for God’s voice, it was always alone and in a quiet place at home. I would get up early and go to the living room with my Bible and notebook, ready to write down everything I heard. Then one day, the Holy Spirit said to me, “You know, you can hear Me even in the grocery store.”
Here, there, and anywhere
This was a novel idea at the time. Up until that point, listening was an “event.” It was an activity reserved for a special time and place. Once I finished listening that would be it until the following day. But I was missing something important. Communication with Him is meant to be a lifestyle, not an event.
If you’re in a café or a shopping mall with a friend, do you say, “Please don’t talk to me now. I can only listen to you during a certain hour of the day.”? Of course not. When you’re with a friend you expect to communicate throughout your time together. The whole point is that you want to share the experience.
God wants to share every one of your life experiences with you.
And indeed our fellowship [which is a distinguishing mark of born-again believers] is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
(John 1:3*)
The wonderful thing is that He’s equipped you to hear Him any time and any place. You hear Him through your spirit. And since you can’t turn your spirit on at home but off in public, or on at 7 a.m. but off at 8 a.m., that means you can always hear what He has to say.
But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.
(Job 32:8)
That sounds so familiar
I guess God talks to me a lot about grocery stores, because one day He asked, “If you’re in the grocery store, and your husband coughs from the next aisle over, do you know it’s him coughing?” When I said yes, He asked how I know this. I answered, “Because I live with him. I know what his cough sounds like.”
I’m so familiar with my husband that I can recognize not just his voice, but also his cough! It’s just like that with God. The more time you spend with Him, the more you’ll be able to recognize His voice. And you won’t just recognize His words, you’ll also recognize His tone. You’ll become familiar with His gentle, compassionate way of speaking, and you’ll also learn how even His kindest words can pierce your flesh to lay open your heart.
Listen carefully to everything I say and then think about it.
(Ezekial 3:10**)
If you’re not yet comfortable hearing His voice, start by listening in the quiet. If you’re comfortable listening in the quiet, practice hearing in the midst of the daily hubbub. He longs for uninterrupted communication with you. Keep moving toward that goal. You’ll never be sorry that you did.
*Amplified Bible Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation All rights reserved www.lockman.org
**Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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