Listening to the Voice of GodSample

Day 6 – LISTENING TO GOD: SHARING AND SUBMITTING OUR THOUGHTS

Listening to God is also knowing how to share and submit what we think we have received with people who we trust.

REFLECTIONS :

Read Acts 21:10-14 and 2 Samuel 7:1-13 and take a moment to answer the following questions:

➤ In your opinion, why did Paul still go to Jerusalem in spite of the prophetic word given by Agabus? 

➤ What does this passage from 2 Samuel stir up in you in regards to sharing what you have received from God?

CONTENT :

If hearing God is simple, we need to acknowledge that sometimes what we have heard is nothing but the fruit of our own desires or imagination. Even when we are full of love for Christ, we live in a carnal body and what we receive can come from ourselves, be deformed, or simply poorly interpreted. This was the case for David in the text that we read. He had indeed received from God that the temple had to be built, however, he hadn’t understood that it wasn’t he who was to build it. God had spoken to him so that he could prepare things to carry out the project. It is for these reasons that we need to be humble enough to submit what we have received with people who will know how to help us to understand and live it out. 

The choice of people with whom we share what we believe to have received from God is very important because not only is it about evaluating what we have received, but also knowing how to eventually live it out. These people, therefore, will be support and guarantors to whom we can then be accountable. Always remember that God doesn’t speak to us solely to inform us but so that we also act. That is why it is important to choose to be accountable concerning our acts. As for David, he confided in the prophet Nathan. He had a particular characteristic: he reflected the character of God who says “yes” if He doesn’t say “no”. That is why Nathan says to David, “Go ahead and do whatever you have in mind.” The people with whom we are going to share what we think we have heard from God are not there to limit us, control us or hold us back. Instead, they are there to support us, encourage us and accompany us so that we always enter more into God’s plan. Nathan had this heart and at the same time he kept on listening to God. That is what allowed him to explain to David what he had received and to ensure that God’s will was carried out.

As for the text in Acts 21 where God warns Paul through the prophet Agabus, there it isn’t about preventing him from doing what is in his heart, but instead to prepare him for what is going to happen. Paul’s entourage tries to prevent him from leaving for Jerusalem, while Paul himself had understood it to be a confirmation of what God had already told him. Don’t forget that when he was called, he was told that he would be a witness before the nations (those who didn’t know Christ as Lord and Saviour), kings, and the people of Israel, but that he would also suffer (cf. Acts 9:15-16). It’s exactly what happened afterward. When God speaks to us, He never changes His mind, but He confirms what He has already said and trains us further. Here the sharing of what had been received was interpreted by Paul’s entourage in an emotional way. This reminds us that whatever we share needs to be evaluated in the light, not only of Scripture but also of what God has already told us. Here is also an important teaching point, that of knowing that sometimes we have to have the confirmations that we need. Because whatever God does always happens within a context of continuity: the older we are and the more we look back over our life, we can see that God’s voice in our life is coherent and registered in continuity.

When we have shared what we believe to have received with people who love us enough to tell us the truth and who want us to succeed (let us also ensure that these individuals are also “crazy” enough to believe what God says, without wanting to restrict or limit what God wants to do), we remain responsible for what we are going to do with what we have heard. Either we are humble like David to re-evaluate things and to act accordingly, or we have the determination of Paul to persevere with our obedience to what God has told us. Either way, at the end of the day it is our decision, and those to whom we have shared what we have received are there to pray for us, to support us, and help us get back up if we make a mistake.

Proverbs tells us that there is safety in many advisors (cf. Proverbs 11:14 and 24:6). There is a true power when we share. So develop confidential relationships that will allow you to live that out. You will discover that by sharing what you think you have heard from God, it will be enlarged and enriched and that His Kingdom will be extended. Who are the people that God has placed around you so that you can share your heart and dreams? Don’t wait to spend time with them.

MY DECISION:

➤ What I have understood for my own personal life: 

➤ What I am deciding to do in my life based upon what I have just learned: 

➤ What you decide to do today will determine who and what you will be tomorrow!

Adapted from "un disciple en marche" copyright 2018 by Luc Favre, published by Vie Victorieuse. All rights reserved.