Hearing His Voice #114

To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

1 Corinthians 12:7, NIV

When we listen for God’s voice, our instinct is often to get away and be alone with Him. There’s a lot to be said for that instinct; Jesus got away to spend time with the Father often, even when crowds were demanding His attention. Many fathers of the faith found seclusion to be a necessary aspect of following God. There is truly a private side to relating with Him. But in following our instincts, we sometimes forget one crucial detail: God has rigged our relationship with Him to be dependent on other people.

Our faith is a very individual matter, of course, but it isn’t only that. We can’t experience every side of God’s nature on our own. For us to be spiritually independent and know God fully on our own, we would have to have every spiritual gift and connect with every aspect of His nature. We couldn’t just know Him through our own journey; we’d have to experience every journey ourselves. God is too big for that, and too wise. He has made us interdependent for a reason: so that the body of Christ can function as a body. God’s nature is to love, and love doesn’t isolate. It connects. So He has made our spiritual health and our relationship with Him dependent on connecting with others.

Think about it. No two people reflect God’s heart in exactly the same way. No one has had every experience necessary to showcase the fullness of who He is. No one has every spiritual gift. We need each other to experience God’s blessings, His expressions, and His voice. Even when we have the gift of encouragement or teaching or wisdom, for example, we can only give them, not hoard them. We still need to receive the fruits of those gifts from other people. And sometimes the best place to hear God’s voice is not in privacy, but rather surrounded by people in whom His Spirit lives.

Lord, help me to hear Your voice in others—to see past their flaws and into the place where Your Spirit dwells, and to recognize what You are saying through them.