Do We Hear His Voice?

When I studied communication, I realized that listening is an important part of communication that has largely been neglected. Why? Because people typically do not listen. We hear, but do we really listen? If humans listened, many of the world’s problems would be reduced. When the law is neglected because humans hear but do not listen, crime rises to ever higher levels. Complete communication is when a message is sent through a good channel and received through good listening and understanding, and feedback is returned.

But because most receivers do not listen, senders never get any feedback, so a lot of incomplete messages are left hanging. Communication can be spoken loudly or softly, through body language or written words. Often, it is spoken communication that suffers the most. The Bible describes the prophet Elijah waiting to hear from God, and God sending different modes of communication to the prophet. Was he listening? Did he hear? Was he expecting God to speak through the strong wind that tore the rocks loose, the earthquake, or the fire (1 Kings 19:11, 12, NLT)? Instead, God chose to speak in a gentle whisper. What can we learn from this? We must listen carefully to hear God’s voice talking to us all the time. I had tried several times to hear God’s voice but could not say for sure that I had heard Him. But one day I sat very quietly after my devotion, and it dawned on me that I heard a voice telling me to get an umbrella and put it in my bag. It was ninety degrees outside, and there were no rain clouds in the sky.

I obeyed—and just five minutes after leaving home for a doctor’s appointment, it started to rain heavily. All I said was, “Thank You, God.” That day I understood how to listen and hear the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. If you are wondering whether God honestly has the time to tell someone about an umbrella, all I can say is that He did it for me.

And it helped me a lot. All we must do is listen for His voice.

Whether it is regarding a major or minor problem, it will always help. So, do you listen? Do you want to listen? Let us not push the Holy Spirit away.

He wants to communicate with us. We just need to be still—and listen.

Mabel Kwei