My dad used to irritate me when I was a kid.

Sometimes I’d ask him a question and he wouldn’t respond. I’d ask it again and he still wouldn’t answer. He’d usually respond if I asked the same question the third time.

Since I’ve had kids of my own, I think I know why he didn’t reply. Constant questions can get annoying.

Have you ever been like my father when God speaks to you? You hear His voice, but you pretend not to.

Has someone ever asked you something and you closed you heart to him?

Whoever wrote the letter to the Hebrews quoted parts of Psalms 95:7,8 three times in the first four chapters. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did…” (Heb. 3:7-9) 

The NLT translates it, ““7 That is why the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.”

It’s not a matter of “if” you hear God’s voice but, “when you hear…”

God Is Speaking

God speaks through His Word. God speaks through circumstances. God speaks through people who are wise in Him. God speaks in deep convictions in our heart. God speaks through doors—open and closed. God speaks through His Spirit. God speaks through answered prayer and his daily goodness to us.

One thing is sure: God is speaking. How do you respond?

Pretend you don’t hear? Harden you heart and close your ears? Persuade yourself that it wasn’t God or convince yourself that God wouldn’t say that? Answer, “no,” and turn away?

Responding “yes” when God speaks carries some powerful promises. He teaches you the way life should be lived. He guides, He encourages, He enlightens, He rebukes, He corrects. God is speaking.

How will you respond?

She Knew My Voice

When my granddaughter Briana was three, our daughter-in-law, Paula, would call us in Luxembourg and let the little one speak with us. Phyllis and I would talk and listen to the little one rattle on and on … grandparent heaven.

She didn’t really know what we looked like, but she knew our voice.

Later, we visited her in the States. Her other grandmother was baby-sitting her, so my son and I went to fetch her. As we came to the door I saw her inside before she saw me, so I started talking to her.

She squealed and came running. She knew my voice. Her reward was a humongous hug. It was my reward too.

God is speaking to you right now. How will you respond to His voice? (Hint: He has a humongous hug waiting for you).

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Hmmm …

“It is a choice to control your emotions rather than allowing your emotions to control you, and shows discretion instead of returning evil for evil.” Alex Kendrick

Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

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