Life Without Mother

What does “hearing from the Lord” sound like? As a child I was always concerned about this. I heard my Dad, my Mom, my brother and sisters, my teachers, my friends — everyone had a voice. And as I grew, I noted not only differences of tonal sound, but variations in the way we speak. (Though my siblings and I often used similar phrasing, even we had distinct ways of saying things!) But, what did the voice of GOD sound like?

The Bible says that it’s powerful enough to create. Adam and Eve both heard and responded to it in the garden. And Abraham sat and spoke with the LORD, face to face, while Moses heard from the LORD from a burning bush! Did the LORD’s voice sound like the crackling of fire, and Moses only understood the words somehow intuitively? Or was there an audible voice in Moses’ own language? We read that the voice of the LORD spoke to Moses “in thunder” in front of all of Israel (Exodus 19). Actually, throughout much of the Psalms, the psalmists describe the LORD’s voice in such resonant terms.

But, does He speak with audible words? Of course, in Jesus we have the revelation of GOD on earth, speaking amongst men as men speak. And, even in His story, the people heard from the LORD when He proclaimed that “This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased,” at Jesus’ baptism. The language of the Bible would seem to indicate audible words. And thus, the first doubt of a child: why do I not hear God’s voice?

As I grew, I listened. Asked others how they “hear GOD’s voice.” Read GOD’s word. Because that’s the primary way people said they heard His voice: when reading His word. So I did. But the words, though themselves affirming the truth of who He is and what He desires, I was afraid I was missing something. That I wasn’t listening hard enough. After all, I do tend to talk a lot…

Thus, for years I had to put the question aside. Just keep reading His word.

This week, as I was reading, the LORD spoke.

It was not some big pronouncement, and it wasn’t an audible voice. But, as He spoke, I was reminded all of a sudden of that young girl for so long desperately asking GOD to make His voice clear to her.

The Holy Spirit has been speaking to my heart all along. Through His word. And especially when I’m in His word.

What this looks like for me: I’ll be sitting down, reading the next passage of my Bible reading plan, taking notes on what the context is, what it means, what it makes clear about God — when the words of another passage — perhaps from a completely different book and even genre of the Bible — comes to mind, and I go to that passage to write it down as a reference point for understanding the original — and as I’m journaling that connection, another passage comes to mind, that further informs and confirms the two passages. The LORD guides my reading, showing me how what may have looked like plot-holes from my vantage points, were only cliff-hangers or foreshadowing what His disciples would later explain. Or, the expositional theology His disciples articulate provide the framework for understanding His story through the ages where we have theology in narrative form.

It’s a dialogue. Many of the initial questions (though not all of my questions), the LORD answers with simply bringing to mind another passage. Almost as though He says, “Remember when I said …” and I’m like, “Oh yeah!” or, more often, “WHOA. I’m shook.”

The LORD, in these sweet moments this week, showed me: He’s been speaking all along. And He’s answered the call of His child, as He always does. It makes me excited for our time together. What will He say next? To some extent, I suppose I “already know” from having read every word of His word at least once — but it’s like with any loved one we know so well as to predict their response, and yet love the dialogue nonetheless. Not only does my GOD listen, He speaks to me!

Of course, I must make the note that not everything He says immediately gives that warm feeling. Sometimes it cuts deep. But I’d rather have the Divine Surgeon make His perfect incision to root out whatever sin-disease has kept me from abundant Life. Then He — as my Comforter, my Healer, my Helper — will bandage my wound, give me the medicine of LIFE, and the new habits necessary to heal and live as He designed me to live: in joy, in peace, in love, in HIS presence!

So, the advice of the godly mentors of my childhood (in particular, my wonderful father and mother) is more than a helpful strategy. It is truth. You want to “hear the voice of the LORD”, then you must first be in His word. The LORD is not silent. He is not always speaking “in thunder” — but, He has and will answer our call, in His timing, through His Word.