The Talkative Nature of God

Not hearing from God is the norm and people who say they have daily casual conversations with the Supreme Deity of the Universe are suspect.

Photo by Pedro Lima on Unsplash

Most people, and I would include myself in having been in this camp earlier in life, believe God is either extremely quiet, has moved out of the neighborhood, is dead, or never really existed in the first place.

Every Christian I know wishes it were easier to hear from God.

Now I said at the beginning I used to agree with this sentiment but then I lived long enough to awaken to realize that God is the creator of relationships and relationships connect, cooperate, and thrive through effective communication. Because this is the case it means the One behind it all knows exactly what he is doing when it comes to speaking and being heard.

So just for a moment today permit me to present some ideas about talking to and listening to God you may not have considered.

God speaks languages we don’t immediately recognize as such.

1. Mathematics

2. Astronomy

3. Physics

4. Biology

5. Geology

6. History

7. Colors

8. Sounds

9. Tastes

10. Textures

Here is my point. Everything that interests you is a gift from God. Every exploration into every subject has the potential of finding God within it, because he created it directly, or indirectly by creating the men and women who created it.

I’m not saying that God is every subject or will be found within any subject automatically. After all, that is the complaint; that he is hard to see and hear.

Which brings me to my second point.

God as a person with a personality has likes and dislikes. He likes righteousness, goodness, kindness, self control. He hates evil and idolatry — anything that harms his creation which includes you and me. By understanding this, we can understand how he wants us to grow and think. Nothing he will say to us will contradict his character, his love and truth.

How do we know what we are hearing in our minds and hearts is from God?

First, he never contradicts his word in Scripture. If something is confusing then it might require study, prayer, and conversations with others to settle on what God is trying to tell us.

Second, if he wants us to do something, he won’t tell us once or in one way. He will provide a number of subtle (and possibly not so subtle) confirmations.

For example, in your prayer life recently, you may have wondered if God is really listening to you. Then you read this random post from a stranger, more or less, and he mentions this thought of yours and then tells you that he most certainly is listening to you. He likes it when you take time to try and listen to his voice through all the noise of this world.

Prayer is our way of talking to God, but it is also an opportunity to listen to what he has to say.

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.

Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

And the LORD called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.

1 Samuel 3:1-11 (ESV)

Photo by Nikolas Noonan on Unsplash