students of jesus

I'm thrilled to present a guest-post from my good friend Andrea Giordano.

Saul of Tarsus first encountered Jesus in a dramatic fashion. A light flashed all around him, and he fell to the ground with a thud. Then, he heard a voice that he did not recognize. It called to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 

Shocked and confounded, Saul called back, "Who are you, Lord?" 

The voice resounded again, "I am Jesus." 

Though Saul had spent his life in the Scriptures, he still was unaware of what God sounded like. Can you imagine that? You believe you’re at the top of your religious game, only to find out later that you had missed God the whole time? Knowing God's words, but never knowing his voice? Saul's conversion experience set the stage for his entire life. He instantly went from Saul, the persecutor of Christians, to Paul, the apostle. He had met Jesus and would not soon forget the Lord’s voice. The beauty was that because he had heard the voice once, he would recognize a familiar voice when he would hear God again. 

This voice is what would enable Paul to know how to live out the life God had called him to. Paul needed more than just the Scriptures to know God's will. He relied on God's voice to speak to him about where to travel, what to say, and how to tend his heart. 

The truth is we all need to hear the voice of God. His thoughts on who we are and what we do are as invaluable as heaven itself. But can I recognize God's voice? Do I allow myself to trust what I believe to be God's opinion on my life? 

Most of us would agree we want this type of communication with God. However, most of us would also admit we have a hard time when we think we hear him speaking. 

If you have a willing heart, the kind of heart that is humbly open to the Father's voice, I offer these suggestions for getting to know the voice of God: 

1) Remember a time God has spoken to you in the past. Anyone who has said "yes" to Jesus for salvation has heard his voice. Like Paul, we have heard a call, even if it didn't knock us on the ground. Reflect on what it felt like when that voice called to you the first time.

2) Ask God to speak to you and then listen. Here's a quick exercise that I sometimes do. Close your eyes and picture Jesus. Look into his eyes, and then ask him if he has anything he wants to tell you. Then watch and listen. If a thought or picture pops in your mind the instant you ask God for a word, you can generally trust that it's him. You have just asked for bread, and God won't give you a stone. 

3) See if peace accompanies the word you hear. Whenever I think I’ve heard the Lord speak to me, I take a minute and hold the word out before Him. If I feel His peace settle on it, I can trust it. If guilt, worry, or fear feels attached to what I just heard, I can assume that it wasn't Him. If something you hear is defined by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, you can rest assured that the Spirit has come close. 

4) Act on words that require obedience. This can be the most difficult part about hearing God. At times, God will ask us to step out in faith. We should follow his lead. I have a friend who says that if you ever feel like God has gone silent, remember what the last thing was he asked you to do, and make sure you do it. Obedience invites more communication. It says to the Father, "I believe your words are trustworthy." 

God is looking for friends who will allow themselves to be forever changed by His voice. Even now, God is speaking. What do you hear Him saying? 

You make your way down the dusty street. It’s late afternoon and the heat of the day is at its height--it will feel so good to finally sit and rest. Your soul is tired and worn out. You are thirsty as well. The home you enter smells of fresh bread, perspiration and dye--this last smell because Chloe, the woman who lives there, deals in cloth and fabric--she makes robes of purple and sells them in the market. She greets you at the door and leads you in. Some of your family has already arrived, so you take your place quickly. You don’t have to wait long. The leader of the small group carefully unrolls a papyrus sheet and begins to read out loud.

“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes. To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ . . .”

The sound of the pastor’s voice gently works it’s way through the room and the words find deep passage into your ears. The sound of the words engage your mind, vibrate your spirit. You are hearing the very words of God.

Since the very beginnings of the church most believers have received the scriptures by listening. Letters were difficult and expensive to reproduce and distribute. In the centuries we call the “Dark Ages” God’s word was read out loud every Sunday: Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospels.

The way we sit down down and read a Bible, alone, holding in our hands or staring at a screen is something new. For centuries church services included reading from both the Old and New testaments because books were expensive and consequently rare. Believers trained themselves to attend to the word of God as it was spoken. They captured the words with their minds and digested them with their heart. They did so together, in community. What was true then is still true today: God designed us so that we benefit by hearing the words of life.

Does that seem strange to you? Imagine husbands and wives reading out loud together; friends gathered in a room with but one copy of the Bible--all of them receiving the spoken word. Imagine an assembly of people hungry to hear the voice of God.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with reading the Bible: I recommend it! In our society we are surrounded with audio opportunities: ear buds, audio files, and car radios. Yet how many of us listen to the word of God today? Let me share a recent story of how God spoke to me through the Bible. I heard his voice in my ears.

I recently drove 80 miles to visit a family member. Knowing I had an hour-and-a-half drive ahead of me, I downloaded the audio file for 1 Corinthians--the whole letter--into my iPhone. Me and my ear-buds were ready to go. As I drove, I listened to a steady human voice reading the words I thought I knew so well. Suddenly, I was over whelmed with two sentences I had never heard before! They were so startling I pulled my car to the side of the road, grabbed my iPhone and looked up the passage I had just heard. There--before my eyes--the words I had read dozens (hundreds?) of times before, but there on the roadside to Lexington KY, I heard them for the very first time. They were a revelation!

I know: you are wondering, “which two verses?” It doesn’t matter. They were for me--for my ears. But what about you? What verses are waiting to crash into your head--not through the eye-gate, but through hearing God’s word for the very first time?

One day I left my cell phone in a friend’s office. When my daughter sent a text message soon after, my friend thought it would be fun to respond to the text and pretend to be me. After an exchange of just two messages my daughter texted back, “Who is this really?”

She knew my voice. Even though she was apart from me and limited to the shorthand of text messaging, she was not fooled by an impostor.

One sure sign that we are becoming followers of Jesus is our ability to distinguish his voice from others. Jesus said simply, “My sheep know my voice.” Yet one hallmark among Christians in our day is anxiety regarding God’s direction and guidance. How can there be so many believers who struggle to hear his voice?

When our gospel does not require relationship or presence it should be no surprise that believers have trouble hearing their Lord’s voice. When our Christian experience is limited to learning the general principles of the Bible it should be no surprise that we have difficulty in knowing God’s specific will for our lives about the everyday questions: where should I go, and what should I do?

What if the loving Father wants to speak to our current situation and give us direction for this very day? If we have never been told that he longs to have a on-going, daily relationship with us, how could we know his voice?

The comforting answer lies in relationship with a living God. This, too, is part of the gospel. The same one who said "My sheep hear my voice" also promised us a spiritual guide who will lead us into all truth--everyday truth--his will for us day by day. The Spirit of Christ is his active presence in our lives, eager to cultivate a relationship, a friendship, a partnership for living (John 14: 16-29 is a good place to start). But because we have been warned that subjective experiences can lead us astray from the revealed truth of the Bible, many of us have been warned against listening for the still small voice of his presence. despite these well-meaning cautions, every student of Jesus can learn to recognize the voice of God as we grow in a vital, everyday relationship with him as Father and friend. We need not worry too much about failure because his desire for daily communion is stronger than whatever errors we might make as we learn to hear his voice.

Perhaps this week we can turn our meditation toward Jesus’ desire to deepen his relationship with us--to go beyond the new birth. This week we can discover that voice whispering, “Come to me and listen. I am still speaking today. Hear the sound of my voice, get to know my words, and discover my heart."

I am in my usual place. I close the door. My room feels secure.
 
I start to read. My mind hears the sound of my own voice. I am the narrator: “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them . . .” Of course these are not my words, but I hear them in my own voice. I’ve been here before. The words continue, “. . . so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
 
Because I’ve come to this place often. These words are as familiar as my morning coffee, yet each morning I can savor the smell and taste anew. I make a note in the margin of the book. “He sees in secret. He rewards.” I consider the fact he also sees the murder and adultery in my heart. Am I comfortable that he sees me in secret? There is danger and reward in what he sees. Other people see only the surface. They reward, too, with smiles and words of praise.

“Go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” The voice in my head sounds less like me--it begins to blend with another voice: one sure and steady. He’s telling me about my Father. He knows my Father very well, far better than me because I was separated from my Father at birth. But now I’m grown. I am trying to connect again. Your Father, he says, sees and rewards. Other people may see and reward, but it’s out in the open, where we can pretend to be anything we want. We can even pretend we have forgiven. Others might reward, but they do not see in secret.

I finish his words about my righteousness: he tells me to comb my hair, wash my face and fool my neighbors, “and your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” The voice in my head is now completely his, offering assurance and revelation:

He sees me, even in the secret place, and he longs to reward. I consider for a moment: could I trust anyone to see all of me, even in secret? Can I trust him?  He says yes, and this is what I will take with me when I open the door and begin my day: “If I trust him to see me in secret, I will not need to be seen by men.”