One of the most important lessons you and I can learn is how to listen to God. In our complex and hectic lives, nothing is more urgent, nothing more necessary, and nothing more rewarding than hearing what God has to say to us—both as a body of believers and as individual people.
You may ask, “But does God really speak to us today?” The Bible assures us He does. The book of Hebrews opens this way: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world” (Hebrews 1:1-2).
Our God is not a speechless God. He’s alive and active in our world—and He speaks! Furthermore, He doesn’t speak to us in veiled terms, riddles, or mysteries. He speaks to us plainly. The primary goal of any communicator is not to speak well but to be heard. God speaks in a way that we can hear Him, receive His message clearly, and understand with precision what He wants us to do.
God speaks in both general and absolute terms to all people, and He speaks to each one of us personally. We can hardly comprehend that possibility with our finite minds. God is an infinite God, and He’s capable of communicating with each one of us, right where we are—in the midst of our current circumstances or crises—in very personal, direct, and explicit terms.
This may be the most important concept you can ever grasp in learning how to listen to God. When God speaks, He’s speaking to you. Everything in the Bible applies to your life in some way. Every message that’s based on the Word of God has truth embedded within it that’s for you. There’s no such thing as a chapter in the Bible, a sermon based on God’s Word, or a book that expounds and explains God’s Word that’s not for you. Each of us must take God’s Word personally.
And that’s the memo.
By Dr. Charles Stanley
