Say what?

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind…  1 Kings 19:11

I do not believe in coincidence.  I do, however, believe in “divine intervention.”   I believe that the Lord orchestrates even the smallest details in life.   Recently, He has made this very clear to me.  I am going through Kelly Minter’s “No Other Gods” bible study with some very sweet ladies.  Each of us are so completely different.  Some are tall, others vertically challenged.  Some are thin, others blessed with extra padding.  Some are married, others single.  Some have children, others do not.  Some are close to the Lord, others struggling with their faith.  Despite our differences, we have a few things in common.  First, we are all women, each of us wound up with emotions, expectations, hopes, dreams, fears, and love.  Second, we are all searching for answers.  Why am I going through this storm?  Why does the Lord feel so far away?  What am I supposed to do with my life?  How can I fix this relationship?  Why do I feel this way about myself?  The list goes on and on. 

Listening to all of these questions has brought another question to my mind.  How do we discern the Lord’s voice?  How do we determine when the Lord is actually speaking to us, or when we are so bent on a certain answer that we convince ourselves that we are hearing the Lord’s voice?  This is a question that rings sweet in Satan’s ear as well.  When we are uncertain we are hearing the Lord’s voice, Satan has an open door to step in and begin speaking lies to our hearts.  This is a dangerous place to be, yet a common place for all of God’s children.

So, how do we know if we are really hearing God’s voice?  I believe the answer is more simple than we want to admit.  How do you recognize your child’s cry when they are in a group of other children?  How do you recognize your spouse’s voice saying your name from across a crowded room?  You recognize them because you know them.  You have spent countless hours tending to their cries and hearing their voices.  You are in their presence enough to know them intimately, and, as a result, are in tune to them at all times.

The same must be said of the Lord.  We will know His voice and recognize it immediately when He calls our name, IF we have spent time in his presence, listening to Him on a daily basis.  This is more than just reading over a verse a day, or reading a simple uplifting devotion.  It is getting into His Word and learning who He is.  It is spending time seeking His face and His heart, not just His hand.  Though the concept is common sense, sometimes the daily application is more difficult.  Simply put, life happens.  We start the day intending to spend time in the Word, and before we know it, the day gets away from us and we climb in bed falling asleep in the middle of a prayer promising God we will spend time with Him tomorrow.  I cannot begin to tell you how many years I lived my life allowing it to control me, rather than me allowing God to control it.  But, that is a topic for another day.

I have learned over the years that I will never be able to fully hear and understand the Lord when He speaks to me if I am not spending time seeking Him.  The less time I spend in the Word, the less familiar I am with His voice.  This gives Satan that open door to step in and begin throwing lies at me.  Just like the wind, earthquake and fire that Elijah endured before he heard God whisper to him, Satan’s lies are loud and unavoidable, even easy to believe.  He throws them at us relentlessly hoping that we will not sit still and listen for God’s gentle whisper.  He knows that as soon as we hear God whisper our name, God is going to draw us back in and Satan will lose his footing in our lives.  Out of desperation, Satan will do anything and everything to keep us from hearing God’s voice.  God will continue to whisper to us, we just have to chose to ignore the wind, earthquake and fire so we can hear what He has to say.

So, where does this leave us?    Back at square one.  We will only know the Lord’s voice if we spend time listening to it daily.  Yes, this is a Sunday School answer, but I have learned that often times the simple answers are the most powerful. 

If you are still waiting on an answer to a question, or simply need to hear a word from the Lord, make a daily appointment to spend time with Him and in His Word.  You may not hear his voice immediately.  You may not even hear His voice after weeks or months.  However, continue spending time with Him.  You didn’t have an intimate relationship with your spouse or child over night. It takes time and self discipline.  However, you are guaranteed a great reward when you seek Him with all of your heart… you WILL find Him. 

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity.”  Jeremiah 29:13-14