God Speaks to Us All

Do you know that feeling you get when the words of a song touches your heart? You feel a sense of joy, a sense of happiness, or a sense of deep longing and love. It feels as if God is speaking to you. Well I think it’s at these moments that God does speak to us through the Holy Spirit. God moves us in ways that He knows will reach us.

In the world today where people are busy, lazy, and distracted it is so hard to hear God. In fact it is simply easy to ignore God and not even pay attention to His guidance and His signs for us. No one said following God would be easy, think about all of the people in the Scriptures who followed God, think of Abraham, Noah, Paul, Mary, and many more. Throughout the Bible God has spoken to people, people who sought Him daily and who meditated on His wonderful Word. Was it easy for them? Did they sin? Did they repent? Did they listen?

God spoke to Abraham and said to him in Genesis 15:4-5, “Then the word of the LORD came to him (Abraham): “This man (Eliezer, Abraham’s servant) will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Then what did Abraham do? Abraham sinned; he had a child, Ishmael by his wife’s servant Hagar. This child would not be the one to fulfill God’s promise. Abraham and Sarah were impatient and thought they had a better plan than God and what did God do? God again speaks to Abraham and says in Genesis 17:3-7, “Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” What can we learn from Abraham? God speaks to those who ignore him, God speaks to those who sin, and God speaks to those who listen.

As for Noah, God spoke to him in Genesis 6 and told Noah that He was going to “…put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.” (Genesis 6:13). Then God instructs Noah to build an ark and to gather in that ark two of every animal, bird, and creature, including Noah, his wife, and his 3 sons and their wives. God promises to save them from his wrath, from the flood. Noah obeys God and follows His commands and his family is saved from the flood waters. And what do we read later on in Genesis after God has shown His mercy to Noah and his family? We read in Genesis chapter 9 that Noah is in today’s terms a drunk, the Bible says, “Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.” (Genesis 9:20-21). What can we learn from Noah? God speaks to sinners, by no means was Noah perfect and yet God worked through his faults and saved all of humanity through a drunkard.

God even speaks to those who hate him. I am thinking of Saul, who is later renamed in the Bible as Paul. In Acts chapter 9, Saul is described as a murderous man seeking to imprison and kill those who follow Jesus Christ as their Savior. And yet God speaks to Saul, He confronts him with his sin of persecuting those that follow the Lord Jesus Christ and God physically blinds Saul for 3 days. God then calls on Ananias, a disciple to go to Saul and to place his hands on him in order to restore his vision. Afterwards, Saul is baptized and begins to travel around preaching of God’s grace and the Good News of Jesus Christ. What can this mean? God redirects us with His words and His actions, even when we are so focused on hating Him. God reaches out and speaks to us.

And what of Mary, who is the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ? God sends an angel to speak to her about His plans for her life, plans that will change her for the rest of eternity. In Luke chapter 1, Mary is chosen as the woman who will give birth to the Savior of the world, Jesus. Luke 1:28-33, says: “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” God used Mary, a frightened young woman as the mother of His son. What can this mean? God uses people who are scared and timid to fulfill His wonderful plans. God speaks to His servants.      

All of these ancient persons either sought God or God sought them, but either way He spoke to them. God speaks to everyone, whether you are a sinner or a saint, obedient or disobedient, loving or filled with hatred, it does not matter. God speaks to each of us, whether or not we hear Him is the question. All we have to do is listen for His promises, His commands, and His will for our lives. God is good.

I encourage anyone reading this to listen to the song: “As the Deer”, which is posted in this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNhkor8dJ0A. Listen to the words and the music of the song. Do you hear God? As the deer pants for the water, I search for Him and God will open up my eyes to His wonders. Let God into your heart today and starting listening, you never know when you might hear Him and you never know what He might say.

Below I have posted the lyrics to the song:

As the deer pants for water

Words: Martin Nystrom

 © 1984 Maranatha Praise, Inc. (Maranatha! Music [Admin. by Music Services]) - CCLI 1431

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after thee
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship thee

Chorus
You alone are my strength my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship thee

You're my friend and You are my brother,
Even though You are a king.
I love You more than any other,
So much more than anything.

Chorus

I want You more than gold or silver,
Only You can satisfy.
You alone are the real joy Giver,
And the apple of my eye.

Chorus