Hearing God God’s Way

A sighting of the planet Venus in its orbit around the sun took place yesterday on June 5^th.  That view with Venus set against the disk of the glowing sun will happen again in 2117.  It happened just as God arranged it when He put into motion in the beginning. 

¹ The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The skies display his craftsmanship.

² Day after day they continue to speak;

night after night they make him known. Psalm 19

There was attention to the Solar System because of the great view of Venus.  God spoke.  The glory of God was there.  His craftsmanship was also there in the design of the star, the orbiting planet, our planet, the alignment of our orbital plane with that of Venus.  And such magnificence takes place in space and in our skies every day and every night pointing to God and telling more and more of Him. 

Hearing God God’s way is to allow Him to do the talking while attentively listening.  This is not of human creation or manipulation.  There are people who see in the sky a divine scheme.  They are called astrologers.  The movement of planets and the arrangement of stars is all about them.  That is not God’s way.  That is not what God is telling them.  They are not listening.  They have created a view of the heavens of their own making and manipulated what they see to fit their own imaginings.  And yet God is communicating.  It is good to remember James 1:19: Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.  By way of application to hearing God this seems to be a good guide. 

A fascinating exercise for discovering how to allow God to do the talking while attentively listening is an examination of the Gospels.  The second person of the Triune Godhead, the Son of God, Jesus, was walking on earth and speaking.  Observe the conversations and how people listened and spoke to Him.  He is still communicating and He says His sheep hear His voice.  So, today, as then, people have the opportunity to listen attentively to Him.  And those who do listen and follow through will have even more of the Lord revealed.  Jesus says, ^“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” John 14:21 

Jesus spoke the words recorded by John while with His disciples on earth.  His relationship with them and His interaction with them are precursors to what His relationship would be with His followers (you) later.  To walk with the Lord is an expression used by Christ followers.  I think it has merit.  Here is Colossians 2:6 ESV:  Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.  The preposition “en” in Greek, and can be translated in a number of ways including “in” as it is used in Colossians 2:6 or as “with” as it is translated in Matthew 1:18 and Luke 2:5 where Mary was found to be “with child.”  With a little play on the translator’s work and for the benefit of illustration maybe we could read Colossians 2:6 like this:  Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk with Him.  The change in preposition to “with” allows us to conceive of really being alongside the Lord as we walk as distinct from a philosophical faith walk in Him.  You are probably familiar with Mary Stevenson’s 1936 poem called Footprints in the Sand.  A man envisions being with the Lord walking along the sandy beach and he sees two sets of footprints and then one.  Assuming the single set to be his own he complains to the Lord about being left alone.  The Lord told him the single set of prints was when the Lord carried him.  That is walking with the Lord.  You know the lines to the hymn Trust and Obey? 

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

And there is this wonderful 8^th century BC prophecy by Isaiah which is picked up in Matthew 1:23 which says: “…they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”  OK, God with us.  Walk with Jesus.  This is much closer to me than God out there…God did something way back then…God will do something sometime in the future, but today I can walk with the Lord. 

To help with God being with us Jesus asked God the Father to send God the Holy Spirit.  He is the Paraklete.  The Paraklete (or Paraclete) is the one “called alongside” us.  This seems to me to speak of access and reliability and walking “with.”  Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit in John 16:12-14:

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” 

Do you see the communication from God to His people there?  Jesus knew how much His people could take at any given time.  The Holy Spirit comes and guides and speaks and declares and glorifies.  And He does it to each one of them and by extension to each one of us. 

Hearing God God’s way includes listening to the Holy Spirit as He comes alongside to speak.  I find that exciting to consider.  In my walk with God I found Him incredibly intriguing from the start.  But what I knew of Him in the first years of walking with Him wasn’t all the Lord had to say to me.  I studied the Scripture.  I did Bible studies.  I listened to messages and tapes and read books, but there was more.  Some of the learning process included digesting the truths I had discovered then beginning to practice them in life.  As in all practice sometimes it goes well and sometimes not so much.  The “not so much” times are as valuable as the times when things go well in learning so there is no down time.  The Spirit was guiding as I sought to walk with the Lord.  And He did it carefully as I was ready.  The Lord was saying He still had many things to say, but I couldn’t bear them yet.  So, He waited until the time was right to say more.  How cool is that? 

Some people describe an actual sense of another person coming alongside.  You have that ability beyond the five senses to know when someone is watching you.  When you turn or look up and there they are, but you didn’t see them or hear them or smell them you just knew.  So it is with the presence of the Holy Spirit.  He comes alongside and you can know it.  There is a conversation or instruction or encouragement or guidance of some kind, and then He breaks away and it is over.

 This is like the statements in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Lord came to me and said.  It seems to be a different way of communicating to us.  As believers we receive the Holy Spirit and the indwelling Spirit is at work in us and communicating to us as well, but this type of communication is more of a coming alongside interaction.

  Not long ago I was praying in the early winter morning while still in bed.  The bedroom windows and door were all closed since it was cold outside.  We only have a radiator for heat with no fan.  I sensed the Holy Spirit’s presence and my inner being was glorifying Jesus. I reached up above me to acknowledge Him and I felt the wind on my hand.  Surprised by the wind.  I brought my hand down and up again.  There it was with no reasonable source for the movement of air.  I simply asked: “Is that You?”  To which the answer was: “Yes, I am the Pneuma, the Ruah of God and I blow where I will.”  Wow, OK, thanks.  I wanted to go on asking important things like…how did You do that? But I didn’t.  There were other things to discover.  That encounter was more physical, but it was a reinforcement of the sense that He had come near and was with me. 

Typically, the sense of His presence in this come alongside way is about recognizing He has come and then that the conversation or lesson is over.  Again, not long ago while working on a passage of Scripture I sensed the presence of the Spirit who began to instruct in ways I heard internally and then ended with “This ends the lesson.”  And the presence of the Paraclete departed.    I figured we were done for the time being. 

Hearing God God’s way takes us into the Bible.  The Bible is the written and revealed communication of God.  It is His truth and it is filled with examples of people living God’s way.  For those wanting to hear from God there is no shortcut here.  Read, study, memorize, meditate and apply God’s written Word.  It is a life-saver.  Have you experienced this?  You are reading a passage of Scripture and it bursts out in bold and maybe it is highlighted in some sense.  You have read it dozens of times before, but this time…THIS TIME it is really standing out.  The Holy Spirit is at work.  You are hearing God. 

There are some who look for ways to get closer to God that are way out there.  Just a few days ago Rudy Eugene who said he wanted to get closer to God went and chewed off the face of another man.  The police couldn’t get him to stop and had to shoot him.  There was some suspicion that he had taken some drugs that led to the bizarre behavior.  This is extreme but in milder forms people try to find ways to God that aren’t God’s way at all.  FYI.

Hearing God is about closeness to God; an intimate relationship with the amazing being who deeply loves you.  Let Him speak to you His way.  He will work to communicate to you through the Scriptures.  He wants you to know Him in His stories.  He wants you to grasp His principles for living.  He wants you to break harmful patterns and develop healthy ones.  Sometimes He will guide you with an inner urging to act, move, give or speak.  Listen to Him.  Sometimes He will speak in a whisper which way you should go.  Sometimes He will sound like thunder or like waters thundering as He speaks.  Listen to Him. 

Hearing God God’s way is a grand adventure for which there is no comparison.  There is so much more on this which will have to wait for another time. 

Go see what God has to say to you!