(Part Two of “Hearing God’s Voice”)
We’ve, of course, heard the stories of God speaking to people through miraculous visions, thunderous sounds from above, a talking donkey, the appearance of a mysterious hand writing on a wall, or a burning bush.
Well, I’m here to tell you about a time God spoke to me through the amazing, stupendous means of…a yellow #2 pencil.
Yeah, that sounds a bit underwhelming in comparison, doesn’t it?
But the thing is, this little “miracle” story changed my life.
Now, even though it happened over a decade ago, I confess I’ve been hesitant to share it publicly because:
A) I’ve written frequently in the past (such as here and here) how we need to reexamine what we mean by “miracles.” Miracles are not supernatural because there is nothing more natural to the world than God and God’s activity. Miracles are simply something beyond our comprehension or ability.
B) I think miracle stories are often overused. Sure they can be exciting as they encourage faith and hope for an extraordinary life, but they often set people up for disappointment and potential damage to their faith when they don’t get their own “miracle.” While I do believe what we label as the “miraculous” has and still can occur, the truth is that an “ordinary life” is much more common throughout one’s years on this earth (and often underappreciated).
C) My little story seems small and silly on its face. Of course, I would love to share a miracle story about how I was flying over Africa when my plane crashed, but God sent an angel to miraculously protect me during the crash and from a den of hungry lions and a horde of killer monkeys, but that is not what happened here. Yet it did, as mentioned earlier, change my life and my perspective on hearing God’s voice.
“You know my voice, you know my voice, you know my voice.”
I shared in Part One of this series how hearing God’s voice is as essential to life as water and that our failure to listen to that voice is at the root of all our problems. I also shared how I believe God speaks frequently and continuously to all of us, but we don’t listen because of fear or shame and because we don’t know how to recognize God’s voice.
Jesus once told a gathering of people, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27, CSB). The CEV version even translates the first part as, “My sheep know my voice.” This should be quite comforting to Jesus’ followers who are assured they know his voice. Yet I, like so many Christians, still had frequent doubts about this.
Scripture also tells us, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him” (James 1:5, CSB). Note that it does not say “might be given” but “will be given”…and “generously.” Now that sounds like a God whose voice is quite clear. In fact James’ letter goes on to say that anyone who doubts this is “double-minded and unstable.” They are “like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6-7, CSB).
I had come to Christ years prior after hearing God’s voice and had since then made several life-altering choices based on that voice; but I can also say there were plenty of times where I didn’t listen or was too scared to follow through. Is this all in my head? What if I get it wrong? Does the God of the universe even bother to speak to little old me? What if it’s some other kind of “voice” that’s speaking?
I was certainly one being tossed by the wind.
Yet, even amongst my most anxious doubts, God kept bringing me back to those verses about the sheep knowing Christ’s voice and the promise to give wisdom – several times assuring me in the most gentle but corrective way, “Come on, Steve. You KNOW my voice.”
Thus, I developed a mantra for myself whenever the doubts became too strong, repeatedly uttering those very words over myself:
“You know my voice, you know my voice, you know my voice.”
Or if I was extra struggling and just trying to convince myself:
“I know your voice, I know your voice, I know your voice.”
All of this is not to say there are no false voices out there (and I will cover that in a future post), but simply to say that those who have entered into an authentic relationship with God through Christ really do know the voice of our creator – we just don’t always trust it. As a former pastor of mine used to say, “You know in your knower.”
So now, onto the pencil. Continue reading
