Hearing His Voice #103

So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed.

Genesis 12:4

Abram did what God said. If God had looked into his heart ahead of time and seen a spirit of defiance, rebellion, or apathy, He probably would not have spoken. God’s word accomplishes what He sends it to do (see Isaiah 55:11), so He must have seen in Abram a willingness to follow the voice before the voice ever spoke. Even so, His words must not have been inescapable. The rest of Scripture tells us that Abram demonstrated faith, which means that he heard God and had a choice of what to do about it. He could have stayed. He could have questioned whether the voice was really from God—or even from any god at all. He could have decided that other deities in his culture wouldn’t give such irrational or incomplete directions. He could have heard and shrugged it off.

But he didn’t. He heard clearly enough to follow, but not clearly enough to eliminate the need for faith. That’s how the listening dynamic always works. If we want to hear God’s voice, we need to understand that He will not speak so definitely that no faith is required to follow; yet He will speak definitely enough for faith to have some direction. The key for us is to move forward when we think we’ve heard Him.

Some of us don’t do that. We wait until our hearts are absolutely certain—a waiting that never comes to an end because, underneath it, there is a fear of acting on faith. But God is looking not simply for our ability to hear. He wants a believing response. With very rare exceptions, His voice will give us enough room to talk ourselves out of it. He wants us to willingly follow His lead, not slavishly comply with His dictates. He always leaves room for the heart.

Lord, I don’t want to be paralyzed with uncertainty. Help me to follow Your voice even when I have questions. Please direct me as I move forward, and keep me in the middle of Your will.