God, Is That You?
One of the phrases I have grown to dread most after losing my sight is, “Guess who!”
Without visual cues, it can be so hard to identify someone by their voice, especially when I am in a crowded room or when the voice belongs to someone who I do not speak with often.
There are some people, like family members and close friends, who I can immediately recognize as soon as they utter one word, but this is definitely not the case with everyone.
As Christians, a question we all have from time to time is, “God, is that you?”
It can be difficult at times to know if we are being led by His voice or the sound of our own inner desires, thoughts, or even by the enemy. We desperately need to be able to recognize His voice confidently and clearly.
A brown closed Bible sitting on a brown table with blurred out green trees in the background.
In the book of Jeremiah, the Lord expresses his displeasure with the people of Judah because they have turned away from Him. They worshiped false gods, lie to one another, and refuse to acknowledge God. (Jeremiah 9:5-6 NLT)
Because of their sinful actions, the Lord says that they do not truly know Him.
“My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot out lies. They refuse to stand up for the truth. They only go from bad to worse. They do not know me,” says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:3 NLT)
In order for me to recognize someone by their voice, I must have a deeper connection with the person than simply “knowing of” them.
I have to have an intimate, close, personal relationship with them.
The more I speak with someone, hear his or her voice, and get to know them, the easier it will be for me to associate who they are with how they speak.
Likewise, in order for us to recognize when God is speaking, we must foster the intimate bond with Him that He was wanting from the people of Israel in the chapters of Jeremiah.
When we reject God and refuse to foster a close relationship with Him, like the people of Judah at this time, it becomes harder and harder to recognize God’s voice.
Thus, when God spoke to the people through Jeremiah, a prophet, the people refused to listen, repent, and turn back to God.
Thankfully, we have access to a whole book that tells us exactly who God is, and because of Jesus’s sacrifice for us on the cross, even our sinful nature cannot keep us from knowing God fully.
Jeremiah 9:24 tells us that God is loving, just, and righteous.
Even though he was displeased with His people, He gave them many opportunities to draw themselves back to His loving embrace.
Likewise, God will not give up on us.
Even if we do not recognize His voice at first, He will keep giving us opportunities to draw closer to Him.
At this point, it is up to us.
Like any relationship, we must do our part in getting to know who God is.
"Like any relationship, we must do our part in getting to know who God is." Sara Claudia Ministries
We must dive into scripture to learn His characteristics, turn to Him in prayer in order to learn how He speaks, and lean on Him as we find out just how strong His love for us truly is.
When we truly know Him, and live in an intimate, close bond with Him, we will be amazed at just how clearly and comfortably His voice echoes in our everyday lives, just as if we were talking to a life-long friend…because we are!
