Hearing God Speak

In his book, Without Feathers, Woody Allen offers an essay which spoofs the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. As Allen tells the story, Abraham is reporting to Sarah and Isaac about how God has instructed him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. While this description contains elements of humor, it isn’t so far removed from the way some Christians think that God must speak to them.

And Abraham awoke in the middle of the night and said to his only son, Isaac,“I have had a dream where the voice of the Lord sayeth that I must sacrifice my only son,so put your pants on.” And Isaac trembled and said, “So what did you say? I mean when He brought this whole thing up?” “What am I going to say?” Abraham said. “I’m standing there at two A.M. in my underwear with the Creator of the Universe. Should I argue?”

“Well, did he say why he wants me sacrificed?” Isaac asked his father. But Abraham said, “The faithful do not question. Now let’s go because I have a heavy day tomorrow.” And Sarah said, “How doth thou know it was the Lord?” . . . And Abraham answered, “Because I know it was the Lord. It was a deep, resonant voice, well modulated, and nobody in the desert can get a rumble in it like that.”

Hearing God's voice necessitates learning to recognize when He speaks. Don’t wait for a deep, resonant, well-modulated voice. The Lord may speak, expressing His love to you in unexpected ways and at unexpected times. Keep your ears open to hear Him at any moment in any situation.