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Listening to the still small voice!

by Joyce Johnson
4/02/2008 / Christian Living

"Listen! Listen! Listen to the the whisper of Jesus,
Surely you will hear it and it'll make you glad
Listen to the whisper of Jesus!"
The theme is on listening; while I was writing this dated chorus comes in my head.

Listening, both natural and spiritual is inbuilt in our senses which enable us to learn life's skills. When we do take heed and learn the importance of listening we get ourselves out of a whole lot of trouble. If I had listened to the small still voice I would have avoided a car accident, but God be Praised! His mercy endures forever!! However, God has turned it around to share this testimony in form of an article, so that others may learn.

I woke up early Tuesday morning around 2 am, not feeling grumpy of being deprived of sleep. But instead happily went to the bathroom and his goodness and mercy which endure forever; one of the first words on my lips, "This is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it"(Psalm 118:24). I thanked the Lord for his wonderful characteristics (being the King of kings, Lord of lords, the Alpha and Amega, the Light of all lights and the faithful One, my Defender, Redeemer and friend etc.). Then I began to pray for the church and prayer needs of people God had brought to my heart. I prayed for my family's salvation and protection and mine, asking for his angels to protect the car, and then went back to bed around 4 am and woke up about 8am.

One of my practices during my devotion is to write and I had the urge to go to the computer to continue writing instead of going out. Naturally I ignored the voice, I had been carried away by feelings I had my own plans, although my original schedule had changed, I would take this opportunity to go to the Soup Kitchen. I would also find out whether or not the lady preparing the meals for the Soup Kitchen, Sister D, needed help with taking stuff to the Soup Kitchen.

I resisted the thought of staying home 'this is not of God but the devil's. I was about to do a good deed and it's the devil who wants to stop me', I reasoned. So I did what I had planned to do and the result could have been devastating, but God saved me from it. I had unwittingly, pressed the accelerator instead of the breaks so I paniced before bringing the vehicle under control. My passenger in the car, sister D saw the miraculous hand of God, she kept on saying, 'it's a miracle' (the car mounted the pavement which was always packed with pedestrians, 'but not a single soul was in sight, except a grocery stall'), she was a great support and a source of encouragment to me, both in prayer and by giving words neeeded at that moment. I was shaken badly and with mixed emotions and all kind of thoughts flooded my mind.

My first thought was, 'Why did this happen God?' I was feeling angry with God because I had asked for his protection (in restrospect, He did protect me) and was doing a service on his behalf. I should have stayed at home, if I had just went straight to the church instead of shopping this would not have happened; ifs, ifs, ifs. A lot of people normally ask "where is God when bad things happened to good people?" - People who engaged in doing and want to do what is right; the answer is God has never left us. The saying where is God?

The answer is, "exactly the same place he was when his Son was crucified." God has a purpose in everything that happens to us; we ought to learn, or should learn from our experiences, or even for just writing this piece to encourage someone. God will allow things (he does not send) to happen to us when we do need to take heed; read the story in (2 Chronicle 25) about king Amaziah but take note of verse 8c, "---for God has power to help and to cast down." Amaziah refused to listen and we can be like Amaziah sometimes.

It is really up to us to have a check up and sharpen our listening skills. God is interested in all our affairs and speaks to us consistently, if we would just listen.

We blame God because it is so easy to pass the blame on to him than blaming ourselves. We go through our own rituals, and probably ignored what the Spirit might have been saying to us. I had ignored the faint whisper and it cost me a night's sleep and undue stress and raised blood pressure, possibly higher Insurance cover but through it all I had support, telephone calls and a lot of people praying for me.

On Wednesday night I slept well and everything became much clearer, so calmly I reviewed the whole episode and wrote my first draft on listening! God is still my Shield and Defender, he still speaks to me and I will endeavour to listen more and check my motives and responses. Jesus said - My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me (John 10:27). I will stress, God did not cause the accident, but disobeying the prompting of His Spirit did. God is intimately intrested in everything we do, he do not want to harm us but he is working out everything for our good and for for His glory.

Writing about listening to God created a question, would I or we, have listened if someone we deemed a great prophet prophesied, 'I have the Word from the Lord, stay at home today' what would have been our response? The Bible says test the spirit but would I/we have taken the time to do it? Listening is hard because it involves time, sensitivity and effort. Many of us say to our children, "You must listen when you don't listen, you won't learn and you will find yourself in a lot of trouble." I am forever making this statement to my great-grand daughter who is 5 years old. Listening is a skill every Christian should develop but how many of us do?

I believe God is fine-tuning us, preparing us through these trials and experiences for what he is about to do 'things in our lives don't just happen' God is working on us through them. So it is time for us to take heed or pay attention, hear what God is saying, look at patterns in our lives, take note of them and it will be a new beginning for many of us. I believe God is going to fulfil or complete his work in us and so the devil is doing his best, to derail us by keeping us busy or being distracted.

'Be ye steadfast, immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord'(1Corinthians15:58 King James verson). But to be steadfast and immovable we need to be alert, we need to vigilant to know, and to know we must listen carefully to what is being said and then obey. We should stop doing routinely what we always did, or the way we always do things. We must change. If failing to listen to God is our downfall then do less talking and more listening.

A reminder, a quote in my church's March Bulletin 2007- last page:
You cannot change things if you always do what you always did--
You will always get what you always got!

God is saying to us prepare ourselves for the change that is coming, and that change must first begin in our individual lives. God wants us to be sensitive to the dictates of Holy Spirit and not to the dictates of man. Thinking about man pleasing, man was my first choice, so I made a fatal error and ignored my gut feelings.' God's voice must be our first choice. Jesus said "My sheep hear My voice" how can we differentiate between God's voice and the devil's?

It is having a consuming desire to please God in everything we do; and that consuming desire is to do what is right, and having a longing in our hearts to obey God's Word; then, and only then, it's possible to know God's voice and make it our business to listen.

Jesus said His sheep - that means ownership, belonging to; everyone who Jesus owns get to know his voice and they would recognised a stranger's voice. Hear, - in order to hear Jesus he has to speak, and that's saying something to us, a distinct sound has to come from him. We must develop a disciplined life to have our ears tuned to him. Jesus knows his sheep that is relationship and it takes time to develop, as we fellowship with him; to know someone we need to spend time with them. Jesus said, "His sheep follows him" that is obedience, adhere to his instruction.

So as we consistently dwell in the presence of Jesus we get to know him and sharpen our alertness to what the Spirit is saying. Subsequently, our lives take on new dimension and we make it our business to share with Christ's body and build up each other in words and deeds. Let us purpose in our hearts to hear God's voice and follow his instruction and do the things which please him, remembering Jesus instruction, and if Jesus gives us a task to do we can do it!

The sheep that are my own hear and are listening to my voice; I know them and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages. [To all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed.] And no one is able to snatch them out of My hand. [John 10:27-28 Amp]
God demands Israel to "Listen carefully to Me and eat what is good" our choices must be God's choice(Isaiah 55:2c). He rewards us as we obey him, so the promises of God are for the 'whosoever' "But whoever listens to Me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil"(Proverbs 1:33).

When we listen to God's Spirit we have safety, security and protection. In fact the whole book of Proverbs talks about being knowledgeable of God and to know God is by developing close relationship with Him.

The purpose of the book of Proverbs demonstrate four reasons - stated in chapter1:1-7
(1) to know wisdom and instruction
(2) to perceive the words of understanding
(3) to receive the instruction of wisdom, judgment and equity
(4) to give (a) prudence to the simple, (b) and to give knowledge and discretion to young men.
So to listen we gain wisdom, and by listening we develop understanding, we also receive instruction, develop fair-mindedness in our judgment (impartial), we exercise caution and impart widom to others.

Listening to God is imperative not only for ourselves but for others. Listening is not easy because we love to be seen saying or doing; but by God's help we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. God knows our heart; the fact that we want to please Him and make the first move towards obedience, his Holy Spirit comes along side to aid us even in our weaknesses. Therefore, take courage even when we make a wrong turning, God's strength is made perfect in our weaknesses; he is the One that is at work through every situation turning them around for His good. We could never lose as long as we stay close to the path, listening to His voice and awaiting His direction.

My name is Joyce Johnson, I have been a christian since 1966. I accepted the Lord in a Billy Graham Crusade in Earls Court, London, UK. I love to write every and anything on paper, write letters to God also write my thoughts during my devotion. I have regularly submitted articles in my Church's ma

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