How to Know God's Will for Your LifeSample

The sound of his voice

In the book of Revelation, the voice of Jesus is like the roar of many waters (Revelation 1:17). Think of the cacophonous booming of the Niagara or Victoria Falls in a mighty thunderous cascade and you have the idea.

When God spoke and confirmed the ministry of Jesus, his voice was so overwhelming that some thought it was thunder and others said it was an angel (John 12:29).

When God spoke to Elijah in Horeb, at first there was the sound of a raging cyclone. The description is graphic: ‘A great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks’ (1 Kings 19:11). This was followed by an earthquake, where the earth must have shuddered and trembled with a subterranean roar; and then a fire, which probably raged through the desert saltbush like an inferno.

No doubt Elijah was terrified, wondering if his last hour had come. But, the chronicler says simply, ‘The Lord was not in the wind… not in the quake… not in the fire.’

So where was the voice of God? It came as low whisper, or to use a well-known biblical phrase, ‘a still, small voice’.

This may be how God speaks to you and me. There are times when we feel like Elijah and everything around us is in turmoil. It is as if we are in deep darkness, with our whole world crumbling about us, and all we hold dear is about to be burned to ashes or thrown to the winds. Or maybe it is less dramatic, but still confusing and frustrating, to say the least. It is in the wake of all the perplexity that we hear God’s ‘still small voice’—as Elijah did.

This is how it usually is with me. In the work in which I am involved, I am regularly faced with difficult decision-making, often affecting many people. It is important to get it right. But life is so busy, there is little time to think, and my office seems a bit like Elijah’s cave: whirling around like a thrill-ride in a theme park. But then in the midst of it all comes a low whisper. So low that sometimes I don’t even recall when I first heard it, but there it is.

For me, it is sometimes clear right away what I should do, but other times it may be weeks before I have embraced the fulness of what God is saying. Gradually, the peace of God of which we have already spoken guards my heart and mind in Christ Jesus and I know what action to undertake.

You may not exactly be surrounded by earthquakes and whirlwinds, but you may still have distractions enough around you—job, family, kids, church work and the like—to make it difficult to hear the voice of God. Don’t worry. God will still get through to you. The Lord waited weeks for Elijah to get to the point where he could hear him. He is patient and he doesn’t give up. He won’t give up on you. It’s simple. Just be still and know that he is God.

What next?

·What are the main distractions you face that hinder you from hearing God? What can you do about them?

·Memorise Psalm 46:10a (including the reference).