Hearing His Voice #101

Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:6

When God seems distant, well-meaning Christians take God’s guidance out of the context of a relationship with Him and put it in their own heads. “Sanctified reasoning” is all they have for making decisions. But if God wanted us to live entirely by sanctified reasoning, He wouldn’t have given us a Bible full of the cloud and fire that guided His people, the fleeces of Gideon, the dreams and visions of priests and prophets and people like us, the signs and wonders of ordained circumstances, or the whispers of the Spirit that filled the early believers with a sense of direction. No, God clearly has multiple means of communicating with His people. Sanctified reasoning may be our only option when He hasn’t spoken, but we aren’t told to default to that. We are told to seek His will in everything and believe that He will direct our paths.

Living by Christian principles rather than by a personal relationship is lazy spirituality. This approach may reflect a desire to know God’s Word, but it doesn’t reflect a persistent pursuit of knowing God Himself. It doesn’t come from long hours of prayer and fellowship with Him, or of asking Him specific questions and being patient for specific answers, or of a oneness with His Spirit that cultivates sensitivity to His voice. It interrupts the path toward intimacy with Him.

The listening process is long and intense by design. Why? Because in that uncomfortable, awkward, drawn-out silence between our asking and God’s answering, He pulls us deeper into a relationship with Him. Living by principles requires knowledge, but no fellowship. Living by God’s voice—that’s much more personal. And that’s God’s desire for those who love Him.

Lord, I’m seeking Your will in everything, just as You instructed me to do. I want to live without regrets, which means living with clear vision and purpose. I’ll wait as long as I have to in order to hear You. Please reward my persistence with direction and a deeper knowledge of You.