Hearing God Part 2

We learnt in Part 1 that there are three voices one can hear from - The voice of God, the voice of man and the voice of the devil.

One of the comments on the Part 1 post rightly pointed out the importance of discernment in this "Hearing God" business.

Actually, after eating the forbidden fruit (which some have erroneously thought to be an apple or sex, I'm still perplexed about how they came to such a conclusion), Adam and Eve still recognized God's voice (Genesis 3:8-10).

The woman listened to the serpent (the voice of the devil) whereas the man listened to the voice of his wife (the voice of man). In this instance, the voice of man was echoing the voice of the devil. In my opinion, the key issue that brings confusion in this "Hearing God" business is the voice of man. The voice of God is clear, God will not go against His word. The voice of the devil is equally clear, he will ALWAYS go against God's word.

It is this voice of man that sometimes goes with God and sometimes goes with the devil that creates confusion. A classic case happened with Simon (Peter) and Jesus in Matthew 16. In verses 16-17, Simon revealed Christ as the Messiah and Jesus blessed him as a result of that revelation. In verses 21-23, Jesus was telling them what was to come and there was Simon rebuking Jesus, telling Him to 'stop that negative confession' (Ouch!). Jesus rebuked Simon and recognized Satan talking through Simon.

I'm sure someone watching Simon and Jesus would have wondered how Jesus could in one breath bless Simon for revealing Him as the Messiah and in another rebuke him even to the point of calling him Satan and other "unprintable names" just because the dude was telling Him not to make "negative confessions".

Jesus exercised discernment! Of course, before you can discern anyone's voice, you need to have constant fellowship with such a person. I remember at least one occasion where I hadn't seen my friend but I recognized her BY HER VOICE before she met me at the top of the stairs. I knew her voice because we were in constant fellowship. You will only be able to discern God's voice only when you constantly fellowship with Him through His word and by His Spirit.

I've heard/read some people saying that they don't need to ask the Holy Spirit what time to leave the house when going for a 10am appointment while trying to highlight the importance of common sense. I see where they are coming from and I partially agree. What I've learnt is that when the Holy Spirit has become your intimate friend, you cannot but ask. You won't be relating to Him as a boss from whom you're seeking permission, you'll be relating to Him as a friend from whom you're seeking an opinion.

We'll continue with the discussion on Discernment in Part 3.

Have a lovely and fruitful day.