Hearing God

March 3, 2018

“Why don’t we hear from God anymore, the way people did in Bible times?” I’ve heard this question time after time from people who assume things are different now from what they were thousands of years ago. They aren’t. People are still people, and God is still God. The difference is in our perception of things. When in the Bible we are told that God spoke to this or that person, we assume they heard an audible voice directing them in a particular direction, but that is not the record of Scripture. In Numbers 12:11-8, God said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. “Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD.”

Moses was the exception to the rule. Even St. Paul when he was converted, didn’t have a face to face encounter with God. Jesus revealed himself in a blaze of light and an audible voice, which only Paul could understand. The others only heard a sound (Acts. 22:9). Most of the time, when God spoke to people, it was in visions and dreams. That still happens, but we have the added benefit of Holy Scripture. 

The real question is not “Why don’t we hear from God anymore,” but, “Why aren’t we listening?” In this morning’s reading, God tells Isaiah, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or to the left” (30:21). God is still speaking, but many of us have forgotten how to listen for his voice. As with Elijah, God doesn’t always speak through thunder and raging wind, but through a still, small voice that gets drowned out by the constant barrage of noise that fills our lives. Whether it’s the radio, TV, the internet, or a continual incessant parade of activity, God’s voice is often unheard through all the commotion. Hearing from God requires a certain amount of plain “down time,” where we give him our undivided attention. Busyness is perhaps one of the great sins of our generation, distracting us from the one necessary thing. I don’t always like to hear it, but I am grateful for the Scripture which challenges me to stop, look, and listen, that I might not get run over by the freight train of life.