Jonah 1 (NLT)
Jonah Runs from the Lord
The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.
But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6 So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”
7 Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. 8 “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”
9 Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
10 The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. 11 And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”
12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”
13 Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”
15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16 The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.
17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
Hebrews 3:7–15 (NLT)
7 That is why the Holy Spirit says,
“Today when you hear his voice,
8 don’t harden your hearts
as Israel did when they rebelled,
when they tested me in the wilderness.
9 There your ancestors tested and tried my patience,
even though they saw my miracles for forty years.
10 So I was angry with them, and I said,
‘Their hearts always turn away from me.
They refuse to do what I tell them.’
11 So in my anger I took an oath:
‘They will never enter my place of rest.’ ”
12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. 15 Remember what it says:
“Today when you hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts
as Israel did when they rebelled.”
Can You Hear It?
Only crazy people claim to hear God’s voice.
I never hear God’s voice so it must not be a real thing.
It’s impossible to tell the difference between my voice and God’s voice.
The last time I obeyed what I thought was God’s voice, everything went wrong – not going there again.
God doesn’t speak to people now that we have the Bible.
Ever hear any of these statements? Ever think any of them?
We all have.
They are reasonable conclusions in the face of the reality that hearing God’s voice can feel elusive. Mystic. Even Dangerous. The modern mindset is not comfortable with uncertainty. It messes with our illusion that we are in control, solely responsible for the outcomes of our own lives, and can (or at least should) successfully handle everything that comes our way.
But if we say we believe in God and what His Word says, there’s a problem with our reasoning. The Bible only talks about hearing God’s voice as if it is a given. A fact. And that if we are His followers, hearing it is necessary to make it through life on earth.
In addition to these verses, there are also many, many other passages throughout the Old and New Testament that offer examples of times God spoke to people.
Even though we can be assured from Scripture that God does speak to His people, there are lots of reasons we still struggle to hear Him. These may include fear of what He might say, medicating pain, unresolved sin, noisy (distracted) lives, unforgiveness/grudges, turning to human reasoning first (or instead), distrust, and even not obeying the last thing He has spoken.
However, one of the biggest reasons is that God speaks with a “still, small voice.” And it takes on different forms. This can feel frustrating. But imagine a loud, booming voice from the sky directing our every step and laying out everything the Creator God of the Universe knows about what is best in every single situation. Because of the power differential between God and us, our ability to choose anything would feel overridden, leaving us with a dictatorship. This would not inspire the kind of love relationship God had in mind for us to experience with Him when He created humanity. Love requires choice. So does genuine obedience.
The Bible reveals that while God is always speaking, “having ears to hear” Him is a heart posture. This is what a heart ready to listen looks like…
Christianity is a relationship with God. When we seek to hear His voice simply to feel better, ease uncertainty, feed an addiction to spiritual thrills and highs, avoid failure, or be successful, we are missing the purpose of His desire to communicate with us. But when we long to know His thoughts and please Him with our lives as a way of engaging in intimate relationship with Him, we are in alignment with His purpose for conversation, and we can rightfully expect to hear His precious voice.
Just like the background noise of cars driving by, the ticking of the clock, and the humming of the refrigerator, God’s voice can become something we don’t even notice if we are not intentional about listening for it. But when we rearrange our schedules around times to connect with God, tune out all other noises, give up idols and sins that are lying to us, and ensure our hearts are always “on-call” to hear His voice, it starts standing out in all its various forms.
In his helpful teachings on hearing God’s voice, Vlad Savchuck talks about how being able to distinguish the difference between God and Satan’s voices is much like *learning to discern regional accents. The following list is his way of explaining God and Satan’s differing “accents”:
Vlad also points out that God’s voice will always…
We will make mistakes in the process of learning the differences. But if we do not get discouraged by this, failures will serve to help us discern more accurately.
What is the greatest sign of a profound, unreserved, relational trust in God? And delight in hearing His voice? Obedience. Even when it doesn’t make sense or costs something. When through our experiences with God we become convinced that His heart is only good (Psalm 145:17)), His ways truly are better than any human ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), He does not tempt us to do anything wrong or harmful (James 1:13), and He is the only giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:16-17), we develop a state of mind where obedience is no longer scary, threatening, or an imposition on our will. Whatever He speaks or asks us to do becomes the genuine desire of our hearts.
God’s voice is calling.
Can you hear it?
Reflection Questions
1. What have my experiences with trying to hear God's voice been like (good, confusing, frustrating, etc.)?
2. If I struggle with hearing God's voice, what might be some reasons for this?
3. What are some things about my heart posture I can work on to either make my ability to hear from God better, or to help with any struggles?