GOD SPEAKS
IN MANY TIMES AND WAYS
God,
who at various times
and in various ways,
spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in the last days spoken to us by His Son.
Hebrews 1:1
Our generation is preoccupied with methods. When we find a program that works in one business, we immediately want to package and distribute it so that it will work for others. This attitude carries over into the spiritual life as well. We spend so much energy looking for spiritual disciplines, books, seminars, or conferences that “work” in order to feel satisfied with our Christian life. God does not want us to trust in methods. He wants us to trust in Him.
Trusting in methods rather than in a Person seriously limits the way we experience God. When we expect Him to speak to us only in predictable ways, we forget that God is much more complex than our perception of Him. In times past, God spoke in dreams and visions. He used nature; miraculous signs; prophets; a still, quiet voice; fire; trumpets; fleece; the casting of lots; and angles. He spoke in the middle of the night, during worship services, at mealtimes, during funerals, while people were walking along a road, through sermons, in the middle of a storm, and through His Son.
The important thing was not how God communicated, but that He spoke. If God always spoke to us though dreams, we would remain in our beds waiting for a divine revelation. The means God uses to communicate with us is irrelevant; the fact that He is communicating with us is the most important part.
Don’t limit yourself to any specific method, expecting only to hear from God in predictable ways. Pray now, and first thank God for communicating with you. Then ask God to open your heart and mind to all the means and methods by which He communicates. Ask God to guide you in a new, deeper relationship with Him as you begin to receive His message at all times, in all locations, under any circumstance, becoming more receptive to His voice.
Source “Experiencing God Day-By-Day; The Devotional and Journal”, by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby ©1997. Entry June 8.