“… God is speaking. Not God spoke, but God is speaking. He is by His nature continuously articulate. He fills the world with His speaking Voice.” — A. W. Tozer, God Still Speaks
I have “heard” God speaking to me, but only twice in what I perceived to be an “out loud Voice.”
(That I can recall.)
And, if it was an “audible” Voice—I believe that it was only clearly audible, to me.
Most of the time, when He speaks, He speaks in whispers to my heart—sometimes so faint—I wonder, “Was it Him or was it was just me?”
I hear God (most of the time) through reading His Word.
The Bible definitely speaks—especially to hearts that are, “willing and obedient.”
If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; Isaiah 1:19
He is a Wild Lion—this Lion of Judah.
If you intimately know Him, you know that!
You know that you must never try to put Him in a “safe little theological box” of behaving only as YOU believe he should.
Experience has taught me, He does what He wants, where He wants, when He wants, with whomever He wants! Our King is not hindered or intimidated by our small beliefs.
Don’t ever expect The King-of-Kings to kowtow to your comfortable “pilgrim thinking.” (I think He smiles at that kind of pride.)
He may be meek—but He is never manipulated. He is the One who rules over us, period.
Although He is a Wild Lion…
He is also terribly generous with us; extraordinarily kind and patient.
Tozer continues in his book, God Still Speaks, “The Voice of God is a friendly Voice. No one need fear to listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist it.”
I do believe Jesus loves to josh with me. But, of this I am also equally sure—He won’t put up with any insolence.
I’m ashamed to admit, I once “shutdown” His Voice for over a year, because of mouthing-off to Him in a tantrum of frustrated anger. His whispering didn’t return until I missed those Whispers so much, that I confessed my sin and foolishness, and admitted, just how much I longed to hear Him.
I needed to learn that lesson.
But, even in His discipline, He has always been extraordinarily tenderhearted with me. That is because God is good, period. He passionately loves us as a Bridegroom loves His Bride. His Voice is always wooing us; pleading with us to come away, and spend more time with Him.
When we blow it? He chides us gently.
A Good Shepherd, He is tenderly speaking
Remember that conversation he had with Elijah after he ran away and hid in a cave?
Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.
Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”
So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the Lord said to him,
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”
“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
After a year of silence…
This Biblical passage “spoke volumes” to me.
(Oh, yes, He whispers through our Bibles!)
In my heart, I knew, God was seeking me out for “a face-to-face and a heart-to-heart,” once again.
I also knew that He was showing me that in my hurt and anger?
I had been the one to put this distance between us.
(That is what I mean by tenderhearted.)
The Lord knows how we struggle with uncertainty, and the vulnerability, of “Not knowing.” He understands us with a Heavenly Father’s intimate love, and with gentle whispers of kindness, He rebukes our impatience with His mysteries.
God loves to surprise us, too!
One morning the LORD whispered, “Would you be content to only influence the Influencers?”
That took me by surprise, so I waited, and pondered His question.
Then He asked, “What if you were to never have large crowds? Would “the few” be enough?”
I asked, “LORD, do you mean it would be like it was in the Garden of Eden? Just You and I walking, talking, and sharing our hearts?”
(He always knows where a conversation is going…)
He responded, “You would be like the rudder on a ship, invisible yet vital, steering the course… could you be content?”
I said, “I believe I could, but…”
(He knew I was wondering about all my prayers for China.)
But, that was all He said.
Sometimes, we are left with the question… and, a mystery.
Heart to heart with the God of universes!
That is exactly, what I mean, when I write about “heart-to-heart” intimacy.
God LOVES us.
He LONGS to have relationship with us.
I can’t tell you why. It is a complete mystery to me that God should want to speak with me! Though I do believe it is somehow connected with Eden.
Often when these whispers come, so do images in my head, of Adam and Eve walking and talking with God in that garden.
Only of this much I am certain.
If you desire to know Him with all your heart?
He will seek you out—face-to-face, and heart-to-heart.
I believe, God can’t wait to get us back into that garden where we walked and talked intimately with Him.
Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me.
Revelation 3: 20 TPT
Women With Destiny 