The Way God Speaks

The Bible is God's Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit.  It is a primary means God uses to speak to His people.  Certainly God is not limited in His ability to communicate to those who have ears to hear, and He employs others means to speak as well.  He can speak to us through dreams and visions.  Circumstances of our lives can be open doors which beckon us to take another step of faith.  God also uses others to confirm what we believe God has said to us.

Have you ever had an impression you were unsure of whether it was merely a thought in your mind or God was speaking to you with His small, still voice?  I remember when God impressed upon me during prayer He had called me to be a pastor.  Since I had no desire to be a pastor, nor was it a calling I ever imagined for myself, I knew this idea was not a product of my own thoughts.  This idea from outside almost intruded upon my thinking, and it surprised me.  I was not immediately convinced these thoughts were from God.  God was gracious not to leave me wondering and seeking for long.  A day or two later after prayer, a fellow believer came up to me and said with a grin, "God told me something about you recently."  "Oh, yeah?" I asked.  "And what would that be?"  "He told me you are going to be a pastor."  "That's funny," I answered, "because God recently told me the exact thing."  This is what I call when God is "talking in stereo."  God has ways of confirming an impression on your heart through the reading of His Word or by someone else speaking on that exact subject.

Don't think this is something I came up with myself.  The principle comes straight out of the Bible.  Check out Jeremiah 32:6-8:  "And Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ⁷ 'Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, "Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it." ' ⁸ Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, 'Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD."  Jeremiah was a prophet of God who was experiencing great hardship.  The land was in turmoil facing defeat at the hands of the Babylonians.  Let's just say it was not a great time to be buying land which would soon be enemy territory.  Yet Jeremiah believed God told him to buy a field from Hanamel who would come to him.  We aren't told how long he had to wait, but Hanamel came to Jermiah and asked him to buy his field.  Look at the last part of verse 8:  "Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD."

How cool is that?  God spoke to Jeremiah, and then confirmed His word.  Jeremiah knew for certain it was the LORD's will he buy the field, and stepped out in faith according to God's command - though it was a dumb business decision according to man's wisdom.  What God says, He will certainly bring to pass.  That's another way you can know if God was speaking to you or just a thought in your own mind:  the passage of time will make it clear.  In the scriptures, repetition is used to strongly emphasise truth.  When you start hearing God in stereo, listen and believe God.  Even if it doesn't make "cents," the only sensible thing is to trust God and obey.  Whatever Jesus says to you, do it!