Morning Devotionals

by Don Emmitte

 

April 24th, 2008

 

"The Sound of God's Voice (Part 6)"

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4 NIV).

There are two remaining principles in hearing the voice of God. First, God’s voice always corrects instead of accuses. Surely Paul could not have been clearer than in our reading today that when we're walking with God, when the Holy Spirit speaks, He may reveal our sin, but He doesn't accuse us. If the voice we hear is accusatory, it either belongs to the devil, ourselves, or someone other than God. Accusers shove us toward depression and destruction. God brings us to freedom and joy. A. W. Tozer explained some of the ways Satan accuses:

Are you allowing Satan to magnify the memories of your spiritual failures? He will always keep them before you unless you take your stand and move up in faith. The devil will whisper, "You didn't get very far along toward the deeper life, did you?" He will say, "You made a big to-do about wanting to be filled with the Spirit and you really flopped, didn't you?" He will taunt you with the fact that you may have stumbled in the faith—and perhaps more than once. The devil wants you to live in a state of discouraged chagrin and remorse.  Remember, the Bible does not teach that if a man falls down he can never rise again. The fact that he falls is not the most important thing—but rather that he is forgiven and allows God to lift him up! Remember, too, that if God's voice does correct us, it is kind and cleansing, leading us to peace, healing, and joy.

Second, God doesn't change His mind. Ever meet someone who says he's sure of God's will for him, but in a month he changes his mind? Then in a few more months he's certain it's something else? He probably hasn't heard from the Lord. When God calls us to a purpose or directs our steps, He doesn't careen us down one path and then to another. He accompanies us on a steady journey, even though at the moment the surrounding circumstances don't make sense.

If we're running back and forth, we need to stop and wait on the Lord. The problem is, its human tendency to jump ahead of God, not being willing to wait until we're sure of His voice. And to be truthful, we can feel pressure from our spiritual community to hear from God. When people ask, "What is God saying to you about this situation?" it's hard to gulp and reply "I don't know." When we're uncertain, it's not unspiritual to admit we're clueless about God's direction for now. Actually, we exhibit maturity by admitting we don't know and have decided to wait until we find out. God asks us to follow, not lead, and we can't follow until we're certain He's said, "Let's go."

All of these indicators of God's voice can be applied to the other ways we hear from Him: through the Scriptures, messengers, circumstances, and the supernatural. But few if any of these factors will aid our discernment if we don't nurture a tender heart. Tomorrow we’ll look at the tender heart.