Looking through some old emails, and I stumbled upon this one article that was sent by my dearest friend and spiritual mother, Libertha. I don't know for sure if this is her own writing or she got it from somewhere else. But nevertheless, it still blesses me. Thought I might share it with you and hope it will bless you too
There
is no way of knowing for certain that someone is hearing from God,
unless that person has been listening to God over a long period of time
and then testing what he or she has heard. Such people have become
accustomed to discerning God's voice (see John 10:27). There are many
others, however, who think they are hearing from God when maybe they are
not. How annoying are the superspiritual who always say, "God told me
this--God told me that--God told me this other." It seems that their
every thought is a revelation from God. God does not customarily operate
that way. He speaks to us, but He does not chatter away, day in and day
out, the way some people claim He does. This has been my experience,
and it is the concept that is in accordance with the biblical record.
The
Bible says that we
can tell if someone is a prophet by seeing if what he has said comes to
pass (see Deuteronomy 18:22). That is a very pragmatic test, and it
works.
A friend who purported to
hear from God told me, "My second child is going to be a boy. God told
me." His second child was a girl. He said, "Well, God told me that it
was not second child who was going to be a boy, but the third child."
His third child was a girl too. At that point I determined, That brother
isn't hearing from God. It was clear: He made a statement, supposedly
from God, that did not come to pass.
There
is no shortcut to spiritual understanding. You have to learn to walk
with God and to know His voice; otherwise, you will mistake your own
voice for His. You even may be fooled by the voice of Satan, or you may
hear the clamoring voice of the world. It is so easy to get these voices
mixed up. Usually, God speaks to us in a still, small, quiet voice (see
I Kings 19:11-13). It takes time, prayer, and waiting on
God to hear His voice.
Nor does
God scatter His pearls around recklessly. He said, "You will find Him if
you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy
4:29). God does not reveal Himself to every casual onlooker who would
take sacred things and play with them like toys. I have known some
adults who treated the gifts of God as if they were just little baubles
to play with. To please God and to receive counsel from Him, people must
be both determined and serious.
How
do we succeed in hearing God's voice? By spending time with God. The
ultimate is not merely to get direction from God; the ultimate is to
know God. God can make it difficult for us to get into His presence,
because He wants to see if we truly will expend the spiritual energy and
exercise necessary to do so. Will we stop certain sins? Will we get rid
of things that hinder us? Will we truly seek Him with all of our
hearts?
Some people only want a quick fix. "God, tell me how to
make money on this business deal, please. See you next time!" And then
that is the end of it. But God wants to be treated with reverence and
deference that His nature warrants. He wants to change us, not merely
give us quick answers to difficult problems. We will never be changed
unless we come into His presence, spend time with Him, and allow Him to
purify us from our sinful nature
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