Listening for God’s Voice

“You will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the…way.’”    Isa 30:21 NCV

A counselor who was once an addict writes: “I was in treatment for chemical dependency and needed a job to get out. I looked for months, but nobody wanted to hire me. One day I was waiting for a bus when a little voice urged: ‘Look behind you.’ I was standing next to an attorney’s office. ‘Go talk to the head of the firm and tell him you need a job,’ were the words I heard. That’s crazy, I thought…but that ‘still, small voice’ urged me on, so I obeyed. When I talked to the attorney and told him what was happening in my life, he understood because someone in his family was also recovering from addiction. Then he looked at me and said, ‘It’s funny you came in today. I was thinking about creating a position for a legal secretary and hadn’t gotten around to advertising.’ Two weeks later I got the job, and it was better than any position I’d applied for. It paid more and made the best possible use of my skills.” The problem isn’t that God no longer speaksto us; it’s that we don’t recognizeHis voice. Don’t be so quick to dismiss the random thoughts that cross your mind (See 1Co 2:16). Generally speaking, God won’t send a thunderbolt from heaven to get your attention. More often He speaks through your thoughts, a family member, a friend, a teacher, a pastor, a change in your circumstances, the sudden discovery of the ‘perfect’ Scripture, the writing of a gifted author, or in the quietness when He fills your heart with perfect peace. So learn to listen to God’s voice. 

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