You may never hear God actually speak to you out loud. (That seems to be a rare privilege only a few have experienced through centuries of history.) Nevertheless, I believe God continually tries to communicate with us—clearly, specifically, and very personally. He virtually shouts his messages through the things he’s made, through the circumstances he directs in our lives, through the pages of the book he authored, and through the still, small “voice” that we hear—not as much with our ears, as with our hearts. (At times, though, people hear that voice so clearly, they’re compelled to describe it as audible.)
Perhaps you’ve never sensed God speaking directly to you through either obvious or subtle means. Or, perhaps you’ve sensed something, but you wondered whether it was really God, or merely (as Ebenezer Scrooge put it) “an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato.”
If God speaks so clearly, then how can you discern his voice? How can you be sure it’s not just your imagination—that you’re not merely “talking to yourself”? I suppose there will always be an element of blind faith involved in listening to God and following the sound of his voice. But I’m also certain that God speaks specifically and personally to me and to you everyday. How well we “hear” his voice depends largely on how well we’re listening.
In this series, we’ll challenge some conditions that may be keeping you from hearing God’s voice and offer some practical ideas to help you improve your listening skills.
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