Hearing His Voice #196

Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.

Mark 4:9, NIV

Like most people who are familiar with the Bible, you may have experienced a strange phenomenon. After reading the same passage or verse for about the hundredth time, it suddenly looks remarkably new. A lightbulb comes on in your mind, an “aha” comes to the surface, an “I never saw it that way before!” sinks into your heart. An old, familiar, and possibly even bland piece of your Scripture knowledge suddenly fits your experience in a fresh way. You see what you’ve never before seen, even though it has been right in front of your eyes.

That’s God’s voice. Yes, it’s partly how the human brain works and partly how our shifting needs shape our receptivity, but it’s also how God manages to apply His timeless words to our time-specific circumstances. When we’re reading Scripture, especially as part of an ongoing conversation with God—with questions on our minds, issues to deal with, and ears to hear—He finds ways to lead us to truth that jumps off the page. Amazingly, He can fit the portion of a reading plan that was scheduled months or years ago to coincide with our problem of the day. Or He can send us on scriptural rabbit trails that land us in exactly the right spot. Or He can prompt one of His people to post one of His verses on Facebook exactly at our time of crisis, or inspire a pastor to preach a message that addresses a momentary concern, or use any number of other seemingly serendipitous message alerts to let us know what He is saying. His Word is unchanging, but His methods are more varied than we can imagine and more individually applied than we expected. God knows how to communicate.

Don’t dismiss those moments as coincidence or as a function of your own psychological quirks. Embrace them as the voice of God speaking personally through His Word. These are moments when He has opened your ears to hear.

Holy Spirit, let me read Your Word as if reading it for the first time. Unveil its meaning and apply it to the moment. Please carry our conversation forward.