Do you know his voice?
The other day somebody mentioned a podcast called ‘The Place we Find Ourselves’ and more specifically, the series within it on spiritual warfare (about a 9-part series starting with episode 41). I listened to it, and it struck me how little attention we pay to the world that we cannot see. This was especially true in my life about 8 or 9 years ago, but my lack of awareness started much earlier, and it was so subtle. A small drifting away from God that happened so gradually that I didn’t even notice it.
Oh, I still went to church, thought of myself as a ‘good’ person, did my job, took care of my family. But all the while I was becoming more self-centered and less God-centered. I was allowing my Bible to be ‘misplaced’. Collecting dust. And guess what: when the storm hit my life and my marriage, my house was built on sand, and it collapsed. You wouldn’t have known I was a Christian by the way I was acting or by the things that I now believed. I had given the enemy a foothold, and he was lying to me on repeat! And I was buying it. Looking back, I am horrified at the way I let the enemy mess with me. But today, I was reminded that no one can snatch me out of the Father’s hand! (John 10:29). And guess what! Today I know the difference between the voice of God and the voice of the enemy!
Do you believe in God? Most people would say they do. But if you do, and if I do, then we owe it to Him to get to know Him: And when you get to know Him, you will begin to recognize His voice and the voice of the enemy. This podcast on spiritual warfare pointed out something so helpful: we can know the difference between the voice of God and the voice of the enemy: The voice of God is always kind. Even if he’s pointing out your sin, He is kind! Because he wants to draw you back into a relationship! The voice of the enemy, however, is always accusing. Not only is he NOT kind: he is accusing! He shames. He berates you and lies to you. He tells you that what you’ve done is just too much for God to forgive. I know, because that’s what he did to me. And on the day God came to get me, He only whispered: ‘Get to know Me and your life will change.’ It was kind and gentle.
So, then I noticed something else about God’s voice in my reading in the Old Testament about the kings of Israel: if you stop listening to His voice, He will stop speaking to you.
King David had a habit of asking God what He wanted Him to do. It was his habit! And God always answered him: that’s amazing. David was ‘a man after God’s own heart’. Even though David was also an adulterer and a murderer, he repented: and we can know that his repentance was real, for this is what the Bible says about David after his death: ‘For David did what was right in the Lord’s sight, and he did not turn aside from anything he had commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.’ (I Kings 15:5) It was like a parenthesis, and I want my life to be like that: she followed God all the days of her life (except for the years she wandered away). Don’t miss that! No matter where you are right now or what you’ve done, you will be accepted if you turn to God and away from your sin! How awesome that is. I know it’s true, because he came and got me and helped me to fall in love with him all over again.
King Saul, however, quickly gave up on the Lord. He disobeyed God over and over and justified his actions. Then when he was desperate, facing his enemy he asked God what to do: ‘When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid, and his heart pounded. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him in dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.’ (I Samuel 28:5,6). So instead of repenting, and truly seeking God, Saul doubled down on his sin: ‘Saul then said to his servants, ‘find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.’ (I Sam 28:7). And this is what the Bible says about Saul after his death: ‘Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord because he did not keep the Lord’s word. He even consulted a medium for guidance but did not inquire of the Lord. So, the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David, son of Jesse’. (I Chronicles 10: 13,14). You might be thinking: ‘wait, he did consult the Lord!’ But here’s the thing: when we abandon the Lord, we will no longer hear his voice. The only way to hear his voice again is to get right with Him and wait for Him to speak to you. Saul thought he could ask for God’s help without first repenting of and owning his sin. But if we do own our sin, and repent, He promises to let you find Him!
There’s one more thing about the voice of God: if you’re not sure if you’re sensing His leading, then open your Bible. I have been reading it faithfully since 2018. No timer, or alarms or even specific goals. No one is making me do it: He has drawn me in! His words are life and peace and hope. I have a future with Him. He has given me a heart that wants to know Him, and He will do that for you too.
This is a promise that he gave long ago to the Israelites, and it shows God’s heart for us, because His heart never changes. He longs for us to love Him and have all that He has in store for us that is better than anything we can even imagine:
‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you: I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances. You will live in the land I gave your fathers; you will be my people and I will be your God.’ (Ezekiel 36:26-28). Get to know His voice: it will change your life.
