All of us live at the mercy of our notions about God. Those who embrace misleading information about Him are not likely to hear His whispers when making decisions that shape their life. What is worse is they will miss out on a delightful, intimate relationship with the Almighty God and the complemented regular communication with Him.
Too often we think we are not holy enough to hear His voice or the other extreme that He is like a heavenly vending machine just waiting to satisfy our desire for comfort, pleasure, health or wealth. Or we want to hear God’s voice just to know what He wants us to do so we can placate Him. All such thinking is about us rather than it is about being close friends with Him. God has created us for intimate friendship with Himself. A relationship that allows us to regularly hear His whisper is not focused on one’s self but on simply enjoying each other’s presence. Hearing God regularly is possible only when one seeks to know His heart, values or ways.
The Bible is not just collection of literary pieces for us to ritually read. Peter compared it to an incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23-25). Like a seed it is packed with God’s life-giving truth and principles. When it is read, digested and obeyed it blossoms out into a living reproduction of Christ. When a person exposes his/her hungry heart to know God in a more personal way, miraculous transformations appear in that person’s way of thinking and thereby way of life.
The fact is God created us for a relationship with Him just as He created Adam and Eve before their fateful fall. He longs for us to know Him more fully because we will then discover our deepest joy and peace and significance in life. Isaiah described this divine desire this way. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God (Exodus 29:45-46 (NIV). Jesus’ name was Immanuel which means God with us. John described the natural results of a close relationship by writing You are my friends if you do what I command (John 15:14 (NLT2). Instead of stressing about doing and being what we imagine His will is for us, in close relationship we do it as naturally as we love our spouse or children.
God’s Word is often pictured as food or bread that we hungrily eat. It is like the chemical continuation of life. This assimilation happens as we reflect on His Word, or otherwise absorb it. As the Spirit whispers to us, just hearing it brings fresh life, energy, confidence, joy and peace that the world can never give. There are enough rich resources in His Word and the Spirit’s enlightenment to take care of all our spirit, soul and body for today and forever.
How close of a friend are you to God? Have you found a way to know God through His Word, a way that results in commonly hearing His voice in your intuition? Do you read His Word as one searching to know another facet of God and His ways, who you are in relationship with Him and what you need to do to honor and glorify Him in practical ways—in contrast to just marking something off your duty list? Have you made the Bible a rendezvous experience with God and His life? If not, when you decide to invest your time and passion into exploring the depths of the Bible God, you will discover a deep thirst springing up leaving you longing to know even more. I know this is true because those very feelings are what have energized my passion to pursue knowing more of Him for decades.
So good and timely! It seems so necessary right now as if it wasn’t before.
I’ve “been there — done that”… thought that I was not holy enough
that God would speak to me! I’ve discovered, mainly through reading scripture, that God does desire that we know each other
in the most intimate way. He is a very personal God and He is just waiting for us to decide how close we want to be in our relationship!