Hearing His Voice #75

If anyone speaks, they should do it as one who speaks the very words of God.

1 Peter 4:11, NIV

Scripture tells us that we who believe have the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:16). It also tells us we can do the works of Christ and that we can be filled with the fullness of God (see John 14:12 and Ephesians 3:19). So why would we be surprised when Scripture tells us that we can speak the very words of God? It only makes sense that the God who loves to communicate—the God who inspired a Bible full of truth and incarnated His Son as “the Word”—would continue to speak through His people.

We often wonder why God is so silent, even while He has been speaking to us through the voices of Spirit-inspired people around us. We hardly recognize His voice because it sounds like the voice of fellow believers, and because they would deny any awareness that God was speaking through them. But God speaks nevertheless, filling human beings with His Spirit, giving them His mind, and letting His desires and His truths spill out through their voices. We have to be discerning, of course; not everything that comes out of the mouths of other Christians is God’s voice. In fact, most is just human communication. But if we’re listening, we’ll hear Him. And when we speak, we can pray that He will speak through us.

In fact, this is what Peter urges us to do. Some see this verse in the context of a preaching ministry, and it certainly applies to that. But we can assume it applies more broadly, simply because it was written to Christians in general, not just to preachers. Those who speak—whether in front of a church assembly or in smaller, more personal settings—have the capacity to utter God’s words. And we should speak and listen with that awareness, knowing the sacred possibilities before us. We can declare divine insights.

God, let me declare Your words, and let me recognize them in others. We ask You to speak, and it only makes sense that You would use people to do so. Help me to hear and speak Your sacred thoughts.