The voice of God

The following post is dedicated to my dear Sister in Christ. I can feel your earnestness, your pure heart of faith. Trust in Him, and He will not fail us.

A sister at church today asked me an interesting question. To paraphrase, her question was:

"So often, I hear people's testimonies, saying: "Jesus told me..." or "I heard the Holy Spirit tell me...". I've asked God so many times to tell me something, to give me a revelation, but why do I get nothing? I just want a word from God, a directive, to lead me on the right path. It seems like so many other people have heard God's voice speaking into their hearts. If God speaks to me, how do I distinguish that from my own thoughts?"

Below is a summary of my response to her. Of course, it didn't sound as good as this, because I was driving at the time, had no time to gather my thoughts, and my brain was already full of the summer midday heat and plans for the afternoon.

A disclaimer: the following perspectives were formed out of my personal experience. If anyone has any differing opinions I'd be glad to learn.
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Live by faith, not by sight.
Firstly, although it is great to receive revelations from God, to hear His words resounding in your life, we should always remember the directive is to "live by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our faith should be founded on the salvation and life we have received, and on the covenant that Jesus has established with us who have believed in Him. Our faith and trust in our Father should never be based on what we can and can not subjectively "feel".

Doubtless, He is always at work, always working in our lives. Just because we can not hear Him, it doesn't mean He doesn't love us, and it doesn't mean He is far away from us. Looking at the years that passed, the difficulties I have encountered, I know that God was carrying me through the tough times. But I also recalled times when I felt like Job when he said "If I go to the East, He is not there; if I go to the West, I do not see Him" (Job 23:8). In my case, and in Job's, we come to realise that God is here, whether we see Him or hear Him or not.

Expect the unexpected
If humans have five senses - sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste... imagine the number of senses God has! God speaks to us and guides us in many different ways - through a passage in the Bible, a line of lyrics in a song, a few words of encouragement from a church brother or sister... and countless other ways that we don't know. Just because someone else testified that they heard God's voice audibly telling them what to do, doesn't mean you necessarily have to be blessed with the same thing! And just because you were not blessed with the same thing as the person next to you, it doesn't mean you are not blessed. God works in us according to His ways, and His ways are perfect, albeit mysterious and unpredictable.

The same goes for spiritual gifts... just because you see someone else speaking in tongues, doesn't mean you have to! God doesn't necessarily give each person the same gift.

Receive the Word
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16)

In looking from hear from God, surely we need not look further than the Bible! Though we may be searching for personal revelations, through the Word we can see the ancient promises God has made with you and me. Having problems that you are searching for guidance about? Perhaps your problems are not so dissimilar to what regular people like Abraham, Jacob, David, Moses, Peter... Their revelation is also yours.

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:2). It's unbelievably important to read Scripture, to be familiar with it, and even to memorise verses. I can not count the number of times when, in great pain and doubt, and during a great struggle with Satan, God brought to mind a verse in Scripture that I'd read. It is mostly through His word that God reminds me of His love and great mercy.

Meet Him in the silence
1 Kings 19 tells the wonderful story of how the prophet Elijah witnessed the glory of God passed by. He first felt a powerful wind, then an earthquake, then a fire, but God was not in the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire. Lastly came a gentle whisper, and it was through the whisper that God spoke to Elijah.

It is often said that prayer is 10% talking and 90% listening. I must admit that in my prayers I tend to spend much more time talking, and impatient to wait for that gentle whisper. Too often I know that I wish for the great awesome revelation of God, the sort that comes in a great wind, or a great earthquake. A typical day in my life is full of noise (full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, as Shakespeare would say). If I don't take some time each day to wait on Him in silence, would I hear His gentle whisper, over the sound of alarms, buses, traffic...?

Seek first His kingdom and righteousness
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 7:33). I love this verse... our directive is so simple. We don't need to worry about much else - we need only be concerned, on our part, with seeking His kingdom and His righteousness. Love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength. As for other things - like ministry, spiritual gifts, revelations - these will follow suit, when the time is ripe.

Recognising the Shepherd's voice
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me" (John 10:14). How do we recognise His voice, over the storm that is in our heads, over all our thoughts, and the hubbub that is our life?

I remember when I was a new Christian, probably only a few weeks old, I asked that question to my mentor. He thought for a bit, then looked at me and said: "You will know."

Over the years, I have come to see a few patterns in the way God speaks to me. Invariably, His word always bring salvation, possibly from something that has been binding me for a while. His word brings refreshment, awakens me, and always guides me back to Him. How do I distinguish this from my own thoughts? I can't really describe it, like my mentor says... I just know. I guess mostly, they were too wonderful to be my own thoughts.
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If I thought about it really hard, I can probably think of some other things to add... but mostly it would variation on the above, possibly with different bible verses. If you have been patient to read this far, I do thank you for your attention. *bow*