(taken from chapter 9 of Who Has the Last Word? “Recognizing God’s Voice,” pg. 157-8)
Elijah recognized God’s voice as a whisper (1 Kings 19:12-13). The sheep recognized and followed the voice of the Good Shepherd (John 10:2-5). It’s about knowing God, not just about Him, in order to recognize His voice of truth in the midst of trying times.
The more time we spend in the Word, the more we come to know His words, and the easier it is to discern His words of truth amidst the bombardment of lies.
My sister and brother-in-law were on a camping trip outside of cell range. But our other housemate needed to reach them in order to ask permission to bring home a puppy she wanted to adopt.
“Michelle! I can’t reach Kim and Paxton and I really want to bring this puppy home!” Shannon proceeded to describe the dog, and then went into her rapid-fire questions. “I need to know what you think they would say. I don’t want to get it and have it at the house without their permission, but there is no way the puppy will still be here tomorrow. It’ll only be like two weeks because, after that, I move out, and we’ll be headed home for our
wedding... What do I do?!”
I considered Shannon’s predicament and responded, “I hate to speak for them, but I understand you really want the dog and want to at least check with someone who knows them well.” I continued with a few points that I thought they would make, and things that should be taken into consideration, like how their own dogs would respond.
Shannon thanked me and was going to try and call them one more time, but had decided that she would probably go ahead and get the puppy...
A couple of hours later, I met Shannon and her fiancé at the house to help introduce the puppy to my sister and brother-in law’s dogs. After the dogs’ initial introductions, Shannon looked at me, surprised.
“I forgot to tell you. I was able to reach Kim on the phone and ask her about the puppy. She mentioned every single one of the things you said she would. Some of the things she said were verbatim what you said!”
I smiled and responded, “Well, we kind of know each other.” Sisters, living in the same house, conversing, spending time together... I didn’t want to speak for her, but I felt confident that I would represent her to the best of my ability because I knew her and I knew her voice.
May we come to know God’s voice so intimately!
Satan’s lies scream in attack. God’s voice is a gentle whisper of comfort and hope in the midst of the storm. When we listen for God’s voice and are attentive to His words of truth, Satan’s clamoring is quieted. And God gets the last word.