Listening to God When He Speaks

Listening and Obeying God's Voice

If God was able to use a donkey to speak in the Bible, why can’t we listen and obey the voice of God when He speaks to us?

Some of us have wandered off the path that God has for us, and God wants His sheep to hear His voice and the words He is speaking right now. We are mistakenly looking at our current situations and circumstances and making self-examinations based on what we see in the natural. God wants us to see things with spiritual eyes so that we can be elevated in the Kingdom.

Resisting God's Will

But some of us are reluctant to change. We want to limit God and keep Him in a box rather than see His limitless nature and abilities. We are reluctant to follow Him in order to receive a transformed mind. We are stubborn and hard-headed and want to do our own things in our own efforts instead of following the will of God and accepting His light yoke.

When we try so hard to make things happen in our own strength, we tire easily and oftentimes wander away from the will of God and His purpose for our life. The more we move toward our own desires and purposes, the farther we move away from God’s plan for our lives and purpose.

God will give us grace during these times of straying from His will, but only for a period of time—making time for us to see that we have moved off of the path we’re to walk with Him and allow us time to return to Him.

Chosing God Over the World

Life for many of us is like a buffet, and that many times is why we struggle in our walk with God. We move through life in the buffet line, filling our plate with everything we want—relationships, possessions, entertainment, and even our professions—without giving the slightest acknowledgment to God. We leave Him out of the equation completely.

God is our master chef! We need to allow Him to be first and lead in every aspect of our lives.

As we are moving through life in the natural realm, we talk too much instead of being good listeners. We try to hide our problems and character weaknesses by talking poorly about others. In this, we are demonstrating character and behavior that is not like Jesus at all. Jesus did not gossip or speak poorly of others. He was honest with others face to face and spoke kindly to them in love.

Often, we develop habits that we are comfortable with, and those habits are not always good. God desires for us to be transformed into a greater likeness of Him. We were not created to be like a chameleon, adapting to whatever environment we find ourselves in. Instead, we have been created for change. We are to positively impact the environment around us, creating a Christ-like atmosphere everywhere we go.

How Does This Transformation Take Place?

It occurs through the reading of God’s word. Spending time studying the word of God changes the way we think (transforms our minds), and that keeps us away from dangers and out of troubling situations.

Our human nature as people is to be stubborn and hard-headed. We all want what we want! We must all seek to be different—made stronger, more obedient, and disciplined. These disciplines have to be taught to us, and then we must put them into practice.

We must allow God to teach us how to obey His voice and be disciplined in our daily lives. Once we learn to obey the word of God, hearing and obeying His voice becomes natural. Once we begin doing what the word of God instructs us to do, then the Holy Spirit knows He can speak to us and we will hear His voice.

If we fail to obey God, He will put us in a process to break us from stubbornness and being hard-headed.

What Does a Stubborn Person Look Like?

It is someone who refuses to admit they are wrong, even when presented with evidence that supports their error. A stubborn and hard-headed person is a negotiator who refuses to compromise, even when it is beneficial. It might be seen as being inflexible and pursuing things of their own interests and goals.

We oftentimes think that the gifts God has given us are our own to use how we want to. Our time, talents, and giftings aren’t for us; they’re given so that we can use them to demonstrate the glory of God. It is very dangerous to wander off of God’s path for our lives and follow our own desires. We should be following the leading of the Lord.

Some of us are not good listeners. A good listener doesn’t cross the line. How often do parents actually listen to their children? Or do we think, because we are the parents, that they should only listen to us?

As parents, we need to spend time with our children, listening to them, pouring into, and investing in them. We should demonstrate to our children and the world that we are following the will of God and not putting anything else before that. Nothing in our life should supersede the will of God.

We must stop chasing what we want (worldly things) and instead seek and search out God’s perfect and pleasing will for our lives.

We must know who we are in God!!!!!

We must be careful not to be a servant in God’s kingdom through our gifts, but instead through our hearts. Jeremiah 17:10 tells us that God is the searcher of our hearts—the place where all of our true intentions live. God is looking at us to see if we will obey His will and follow His voice or seek our own selfish desires.

We pray for God’s permission instead of His will. We know in our hearts that we desire to do something other than His will, so we ask for permission to do what we want to do instead of seeking what God’s will is and what He wants us to do. Our self-interests will cause us to cross the line with God, resulting in dire consequences.

God Spoke Through a Donkey

In Numbers 22:28–30, God made a donkey speak in the Bible because Balaam beat him so harshly. God used the donkey to get Balaam’s attention. The donkey was the only one seeing the angel of God. The pursuit of money caused Balaam to be spiritually blind.

We want material things so badly sometimes that it prevents us from hearing the voice of God. The only way God stopped Balaam was through speaking through the donkey. How many times in our lives has that been us?

We are to rely completely on the Holy Spirit, and animals can’t do that. Our God-given gifts can never take the place of the Holy Spirit. Self-interests blind us to the truth, reality, and what the Holy Spirit is trying to reveal to us.

Be careful to discern what others are saying to you. Test everything against the Word and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you when others tell you things—especially when they say God told them something.

Being a good listener is an important skill, and we should all seek to become good listeners. Be a discerning listener who is listening for and relying on the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Are You Wasting the Time God Has Given You?

Your time, gifts, and talents are all for God and His glory. We are to use these gifts to grow the Kingdom of God. We need to be sure we are seeking God’s will for our lives and obeying His word so that we can truly hear His still, small voice and know the calling and purpose He has for each of us.

God is doing a new thing at Truth of the Word. He has given Pastor a new name for our church. We will be known as Truth of the Word Community Church, and the church will be about souls.

God is greater than we can think or even possibly imagine, and He will provide all that we need to accomplish His plan.