A friend walked into his sitting room to find his cat stretched out on the sofa, lounging pleasurably in the warmth of the morning sunlight beaming through the window. No one placed him there or told him to do it. He was just being a cat, doing what his Creator programmed him to do. You and I were created to be sons/daughters of God, to be in relationship with Him. This is the truth, the reality of the fact that we are created and programmed to be that way. The cat did not stretch out in the sun to become a cat, he did it because he is a cat. A wheel does not go round to become a wheel, it goes round because it is a wheel! We are super-naturally natural, children of God.

Some complain, “I never hear God’s voice.” That is not true if you are a born again Believer in Jesus Christ and have received His salvation. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand,” John 10:27-28. If I say that I do not hear God’s voice it is because I have not learned to recognise it, or have ignored it.

Very few people have actually heard the audible voice of God, but millions hear His voice in other ways. God is spirit, and His Spirit communes with our spirit. Very often He impresses something on us and our spirit will witness to what He is impressing. We do not hear with our natural ears, but in our spirit.

2 Peter 1:16-19 Peter, speaking of Jesus said, “…..we were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also A MORE SURE WORD of prophecy, whereunto you do well to take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts.”

Even though Peter heard the audible voice of God in the mountain, he calls the word of prophecy “a more sure word“. Jesus declared, “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” Matthew 4:4. This is a proceeding word, a living word that the Holy Spirit gives us guidance and direction with. We do not hear this with our natural ears, but we receive an impression in our spirit. The Holy Spirit communes with our spirit and He will only ever witness to truth. He is the Holy Spirit of truth and teaches us to discern the voice of God.

There is a place where the peace of God in our hearts is the voice of God. If I get angry, murmur, justify myself, get irritated with circumstances or others etc., God’s peace is disturbed in my heart and lifts away. I must recognise this as the Lord’s displeasure with my reactions. This surely is His silent voice when I forfeit His peace to a situation. I am responsible to be the door keeper of God’s peace in my heart.

At other times I may be presented with people suggesting a particular direction to take in life that I have no witness to, and my peace is disturbed. This is also the voice of God warning and guiding me not to take that direction. God’s peace in my heart has divine purpose to keep me on track. As I daily surrender to the Lord’s peace and guidance there is an “evolving” in the spirit as my flesh life is replaced by another measure of the fullness of the Indwelling Christ.

Chapter 16 of Deuteronomy contains several times the phrase: “…in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose…” There is a place both geographically and spiritually that God chooses and directs us to if we will heed Him. When we are in the place of His choice our lives will demonstrate order and we will function out of His peace. Even in adversity we can function in God’s peace. Jesus demonstrated this during a boat trip with His disciples, when a storm blew up and raged. The disciples were terrified but Jesus just slept peacefully through it all, until awakened by His anxious friends. He performed a miracle, calmed the tempest with a word, “Peace, be still,”Mark 4:39, and addressed the astounded disciples’ fear and lack of faith.

The voice of God then, can be heard in many different ways: through a person, a circumstance, an impression, a proceeding word, a quickened word from the Bible, God even spoke through a donkey – the record of Balaam’s ass is found in Numbers 22. When God speaks, His word has divine purpose and with that purpose comes His provision. What God demands, He supplies! In the will of God I find all my needs, (not my wants), are met by the provision of His hand. As I learn to obey His voice, the voice becomes clearer to hear and recognise as the Holy Spirit gives discernment. We have all failed at times at hearing God’s voice, but failures are just learning curves in the economy of God, He wastes nothing if we humble before Him and keep a teachable spirit in our heart.

God has called me to be what He created me to be, and to do what He created and purposed for me to do. In His love there is no gulf He cannot bridge, no door He cannot open and no wall he cannot break down. I cannot be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Ephesians 4), by remaining in a constant comfort zone. There will be some bumpy rides along the journey, but through these circumstances God will shape us with His loving hand, as we say “Amen” to Father we will “go out with joy and be led forth with peace…” Isaiah 55:12, as the mountains in our lives are reduced to molehills.

Enjoy the journey!