HEARING FROM GOD
By Mary Hunt Webb
Posted Saturday, June 25, 2011
Have you ever heard somebody say that God spoke to him or her? And have you prayed and prayed that you would hear from Him, too?
What if your prayers were answered so that God spoke to you? If He told you to do something, would you do it? Or, would you worry about what other people thought?
The Bible tells the story of a man that heard from God. His name was Jonah. God thought enough of Jonah that He gave this man a task to do. God told Jonah to go to a city-kingdom called Nineveh. Jonah’s task was to go through the city and call the people to repentance. (See Jonah 1:1-2)
If that had been you instead of Jonah, how would you have reacted? Would you have felt honored that God spoke to you and gave you something to do? Would you have done what He said without a moment’s hesitation?
Or, would you have said, “But, God, people will ridicule me!”
Jonah did not feel honored that God spoke to him. Nor did he like the task that God gave him to do. Instead, Jonah got on a ship going the opposite direction. (Jonah 1:3) He rebelled.
That’s the problem that arises from hearing from God. When we hear from God, we have to do what He says. If we don’t, we get in trouble. That’s what happened to Jonah. A terrible storm arose and threatened to sink the ship he was on. (Jonah 1:4)
When the sailors on that ship discovered that Jonah was running from God, they became frightened. The end result was that they threw him into the ocean to calm the storm. However, God was not finished with Jonah. In order to get Jonah to do what He wanted him to do, God sent a big fish to swallow him and spit him up on land. That was definitely special delivery!
God knows your heart as well as He knew that of Jonah. He knows how you will respond if He speaks to you and gives you something to do. Perhaps that is the reason He hasn’t spoken to you.
If you feel that is what is keeping you from hearing from God, ask Him to change your heart, according to Ezekiel 36:26-27. Then watch what He will do. Expect miracles.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NKJV) “26) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27) I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
