Have you ever been around someone who is hard of hearing? I have an aunt who’s hard of hearing and I think she misses out on a lot that is going on around her because of it. You usually have to raise your voice to levels not normal for conversation. You have to speak slower and often face them so they can read your lips of need be. You also tend to say less due to the effort involved in communicating.
Are you hard of hearing? Not physically, but spiritually.
I hear people say that they haven’t heard the Lord speak to them. Or that they are waiting for God to guide them on what they should do next.
The truth is that God is always speaking to us, we just aren’t listening. We are often hard of hearing. And God doesn’t like to shout. In fact, God most often speaks to us softly and quietly. Our verse for the week demonstrates that.
“Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say,
‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left.”
(Isaiah 30:21 NLT)
Your ear will hear a voice behind you, like someone whispering over your shoulder into your ear, “Go right” or “go left” or “Keep going forward.”
Does that kind of relationship with God seem out of reach to you? It’s not.
When Elijah ran from the threats of Jezebel and hid in a cave on Mount Horeb, (1 Kings 19) he heard from the voice of God. Elijah heard from God frequently (he was a prophet after all), but God wanted to make sure Elijah heard Him. So God whispered. A strong wind, earthquake and fire all passed by Elijah, but God was not in any of them. God was in a still, small voice.
God was in the whisper.
God doesn’t like to shout. He loves to guide us gently and purposefully as our loving, heavenly Father. He longs whisper into your ear, “This is the way, walk in it”.
How do we get that? How do we have the a relationship with God where He only needs to whisper?
In order to hear God whisper, we have to get close to Him.
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- Hearing God whisper requires spending time alone with Him, daily and throughout every day. You won’t hear Him if you aren’t near Him. Don’t rush headlong into your day without time alone with God.
- Hearing God whisper requires being silent before Him. Sometimes we don’t let God get a word in edgewise and then complain that He doesn’t speak to us.
- Hearing God whisper means following His directions once given. Has God whispered for you to go left and then you give Him 10 reasons why “left” is a bad idea? God can’t guide you if you refuse to follow His directions.
Do you long to have the kind of relationship with God? One so close that He merely whispers His will in your ear and you follow?
You can have that. God wants it for you. Follow those steps above.
Be still before Him
Be quiet enough to hear Him speak
Be obedient to every direction
Then today’s verse for the week will be a sweet reminder of what you already have with God, instead of wishful thinking. Take this verse with you this week, and listen for God’s whisper.
What about you?
Give an example of a time when God “whispered” to you?
What was the result of hearing that?
How do you make sure you are listening to God speak?
T.J. is the Founder and Executive Director of Working Women of Faith, a non-profit organization that exists to equip and encourage women of faith to live out their calling in the workplace to the glory of God.