Have you ever attempted to listen to the voice of God as He speaks to you? Do you struggle to hear Him, or does it feel like His words are clear and discernible?
Many people admit to having a difficult time hearing the voice of God. In some respects, I imagine that might be because they don't know enough about how He speaks to people, or it's possible that they're so caught up in listening to worldly counsel that their ability to discern godly wisdom from worldly wisdom has become deficient.
Years ago, a group of Chilean miners spent nearly 70 days listening. For a full 69 days, they were stuck in a mine shaft after a large section of the mountain they were digging in collapsed. 33 miners spent more than two months listening for signs of hope that might indicate that someone on the surface was searching for them.
These men were 2,300 feet below the surface while they waited for help. For many days, they had no idea if help was coming or if they were presumed dead. They had a small amount of food in the mine, a little tuna, some peas, and some packages of cookies. They also had some milk and water, but their daily rations had to be limited to just 300 calories while they waited for rescue.
For many days, they heard nothing. Sometimes their minds would play tricks on them and they would imagine they were hearing drills or other noises, but when they listened closely, they realized that wasn't the case.
In the midst of this situation, they started to settle into the very real possibility of dying. But one of the men tried to encourage the others to hold on to hope. José Henríquez, a devout Christian, led the men in prayer. He asked God to take pity on them and provide a way out.
While this was all taking place in the mine, there were men on the surface doing everything they could to locate the miners underground. They decided to simultaneously drill in 9 locations at once in the hopes that one of them would be correct. On the 17th day of drilling, something happened. They drilled into the shaft where the men were located. The men heard the drill approaching them, then saw it protrude through the ceiling. One of the miners began banging on the pipe that encased the drill bit to let their rescuers know they had found them.
When José saw that pipe poking through, he joyfully proclaimed "God exists!" for the rest of the crew to hear. It took many more weeks for the men to be successfully extracted from the mine, but food and notes from their families were lowered down to them while they waited for the rescue shaft to be drilled. What a delight it was for them to hear the sound of the drill and read the notes from their loved ones.
Are we eager to hear?
There are certain things that are an utter delight to hear, and God wants us to remain eager to hear from Him. We see that sentiment expressed by the psalmist in Psalm 112 when he says, "Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!" (Psalm 112:1)
Psalm 112 is one of my favorite portions of Scripture. It's a psalm that paints a picture of the kind of life God desires for us. It's the kind of life Jesus lived on our behalf when He walked this earth, and it demonstrates a lifestyle that the Holy Spirit is eager to empower us to experience as we trust in Jesus and obey His counsel.
There are several phrases of encouragement that should stand out to us when we look at the first verse of this psalm. It begins with the statement, "Praise the Lord!" That's a statement that should never be far from our lips. If I'm experiencing true joy, hope, and contentment in Christ, I will be able to utter that phrase no matter what my present circumstances may be. When I'm healthy, I can praise the Lord. When I'm ill, I can praise Him as well. When my life is free from conflict, I can praise Him. When I'm experiencing discomfort and disappointment, I can praise Him just the same. My sense of peace in this world is not found in the absence of pain, it's found in the presence of Christ.
The psalmist also reminds us that the man who fears the Lord is truly blessed. It could also be said that such a person is genuinely happy because he understands how life and this world are truly designed to operate. Living life with a healthy and respectful reverence for God's authority and power is the only way to experience a genuinely blessed and happy life.
I imagine that the concept of living in the fear of the Lord might initially sound unappealing to some people. The word "fear" frequently causes people to scratch their heads in confusion. But a man or woman who chooses to spend their life recognizing that the greatest power in the universe, the One who spoke creation into existence, has authority over them and can enact His power to intervene in their life at any moment, is a person who is going to live a better life, plain and simple. They won't strut around like they're calling all the shots, and they'll spare themselves the pain that comes from human pride and arrogance. Understanding who God really is, and living in respectful submission to His authority, is the key to obtaining wisdom and good direction.
The psalmist also expresses that those who greatly delight in God's commandments will be blessed. I appreciate reading that and contemplating what that means because the concept of worshipping a God who specifically commands us to live a certain way and believe certain things seems noticeably deficient in present-day culture.
Are we trying to sanitize God?
We live in a day when many teachers, preachers, and writers are trying to "sanitize" God in order to portray Him in a soft and non-abrasive manner. But here's what I have learned about God and about myself. My sin is an offense to His holy nature. I wasn't seeking Him and I wasn't eager to receive His counsel. But then the Father sent the Son into this world to bear the penalty for my sin upon Himself. He offered me the only shot I had at redemption and forgiveness. If I trust Him enough to receive His gift of salvation, I should also trust Him enough to listen to exactly what He says about how I'm supposed to go about living this new life He's given me.
There will be times when God's word says things I won't want to hear. He will make demands of my life that stretch me and take me out of my comfort zone. He will offend me by telling me I was wrong and He was right. He will show me things about myself and my internal motivations that will make me uncomfortable. And if I truly love Him, and truly mean it when I call Him "Lord," I will learn to say "thank you" every time He challenges my false notions or spiritual immaturity.
There's a lyric in "Every Breaking Wave," one of my favorite U2 songs, that says, "It's hard to listen while you preach." I think that's such a great line because it illustrates one of the biggest obstacles we all experience when it comes to hearing God's voice. We want to do the talking and the directing when we really should be doing the listening and obeying. It's hard to listen to Him if we're too enamored with listening to ourselves.
““It’s hard to listen while you preach””
Jesus once said, "Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (John 8:47). Jesus said these words to the religious influencers of the day who loved the sound of their own voices more than the voice of God. Their rejection of Christ's teaching demonstrated that their hearts were far from God. They claimed to delight in hearing God's voice, but they really delighted in hearing their own.
Our hearts should be aligned with the sentiment David expressed in Psalm 32 when he encouraged those who claimed to worship God to not take the posture of a belligerent animal that continually resists submission. David said, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you." (Psalm 32:8-9).
Years ago, author and well-known Christian thought-leader, Dallas Willard, said this about our struggle to hear God's voice; "Our failure to hear His voice when we want to is due to the fact that we do not, in general, want to hear it, that we want it only when we think we need it."
Do you want God’s counsel?
Do you want God's counsel? Do you think you need it on occasion or is it something you can honestly say you need continually? How do you respond to counsel in other areas of life? Do you accept the counsel of the people God has specifically placed in your life to help guide the steps you take and the decisions you make?
Back when my son was a new driver he made a classic mistake and failed to pay attention to his speed. He was driving down a residential hill and his speed far exceeded the limit. Unfortunately for him, the police were in a position that day to catch drivers who had a habit of making that same mistake and he was quickly pulled over. The fine was severe and the increased insurance costs were going to be substantial if this offense went against his record, but someone working for the police department told him he could challenge the ticket and come before the judge if he wanted to attempt to reduce the penalty.
My son asked me what to do and I told him that if I was in his shoes, I would just pay the fine and accept the consequences since it was clear that his speed was well beyond the limit. But that's not what he decided to do. He took his chances and challenged the ticket.
Then he asked me, "How should I dress when I come before the judge?" I told him, "Well, you didn't listen to my counsel when I told you to pay for the ticket, so you probably aren't going to listen to my counsel now, but if I was you, I would wear my work uniform when I came before the judge." He thought that answer was ridiculous. At the time, he worked for Chick-Fil-A, and he thought my suggestion sounded silly. But to my surprise, he took my counsel and wore his work uniform to court.
When the judge questioned him about his driving, he also said, "I see you work at Chick-Fil-A. My daughter works there too. It's a great company. If you work there, I'm guessing you're a generally reliable person who must have made a mistake." Then he reduced my son's fine and the other penalties so they didn't affect his ability to be insured. Later that day, my son said, "I hate to admit it, but you were right. I'm glad I listened to you and wore the uniform."
There is going to be a day when every person is going to admit that their Heavenly Father was right. We can admit that today and live in the blessed delight of experiencing our daily life with the confidence that we're in the center of God's will, or we can stumble through life with our own short-sighted wisdom as our primary guide and eventually admit that our Heavenly Father was right while we try to pick up the pieces of our needlessly shattered lives.
What voice rings loudest in your head? The voice of God, the beckoning of this sinfully confused world, or the counsel of your own making? The person who spends a lifetime delighting in the commands of God and developing a sensitivity to hearing the counsel of the Holy Spirit will also be someone who experiences a fulfilling existence on this planet while we wait for the glorious return of Jesus.
Learn to delight in the commands of God. Ask the Lord to make this your heart's desire.
© John Stange, 2022
