“To study the Bible is important, but it is not a primal evidence that you belong to God. Anyone can study the Bible, but only those who know Him can hear His voice and are taught by Him. Although the barbarian may not be formally trained, she is always God-taught. Jesus expected that those who were His followers would hear His voice, know His voice, and follow only His voice…” (The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus)
I have always felt such a lack in my relationship with God simply because I was not as ‘well-versed’ in His word. Though I read and read, I know I have a long way to go before I can become the teacher of the Word… a disciple that can spit out scripture for every circumstance at any moment. Though I totally understand that my relationship with God is a journey, I have never felt ‘worthy’ or ‘ready’ to stand up and truly begin to lead. I guess that’s why it is so important for me to rely on my relationship with Him as a whole package and not just one component.

Most of us know and understand that just as we are all unique, the way God speaks to us is just as special and unique. There is not a story in the bible that we see our Father speak to men in the same way. So why do we assume that there is only one way He speaks to us? Some of us hear His voice in our conscious, some through the convicting words of other prophetic men, some in nature, songs, movies, or as almost audible answers to our questions during prayer. But for many people… all of this sounds a bit self-created or loony toons. Sometimes WE even deny His voice and listen to the world’s voices around us telling us we are a bit crazy to believe anything that is not ‘of this world’ or taught as an acceptable social or cultural norm. So how can we undeniably KNOW that we are right in hearing His voice? That the thousands of others opposing us ‘looking out for our sanity’ simply just lack the same relationship and awareness of God’s supernatural presence in this world. HOW DO WE REALLY KNOW IF IT’S HIS VOICE AND NOT OURS?

Well, during a very revealing bible study with a friend last night, I realized something… something that so many of us KNOW but for some reason it clicked for me last night: When you are in a relationship… with a friend… with a parent… with a lover… at what point can you just leave a message or pick up the phone and NOT need to identify yourself? You know what I mean… when you are at the level of ‘knowing’ someone sooo well, that you can easily pick out their voice from the hundreds of contacts you have stored in your cell phone. Or what about this… what does it take to be able to recognize who sings a song within the first 10 seconds of hearing it on the radio? I know some of you remember that game show: ‘Name that Tune!” (I’m sure I am totally aging myself right about now) So WHAT does it take?? What about a mother who can recognize her baby’s cry from all the rest in a nursery… or the dog who knows exactly when his master is approaching the door.. almost as if to know his footsteps and his scent so keenly. Looking at it from a simple worldly relational perspective, what does it take to REALLY know someone? To recognize their voice?? I’ll tell you what I came up with…

… At the least, it takes enough joy and desire to sacrifice putting your time in somewhere else. It means dedicating moments to talk, to listen, and hold this relationship with some importance or meaning in your life… even if we’re simply talking about being a faithful follower of Guns and Roses, Frank Sinatra or Pat Benetar. On the other scale, it takes true, unconditional love and trust. We must somewhere hope and believe that this person will never leave us or harm us intentionally. It means being in the ‘circle of trust’ or ‘safezone’ knowing that you can pretty much say anything and get away with it. It means ‘no judgement’ and complete freedom to be who you are with no reservations. It means wanting to learn about the other person and what makes them who they are… whether it’s intentional or simply by spending time with them. It means KNOWING that person inside and out… recognizing their moods, their body language… subconsciously learning the inflections of their voice, their rhythms and habits, their weaknesses and fears. And if we TRULY love and care for them, we are sensitive to their needs, support them when they are troubled, and can easily pick out when they are having a bad day or a sad moment… without even saying a word.

This kind of relationship takes time to build, but it simply is created from a state of love, trust, and desire to share our life. So applying this to our Father, He already feels all these things for us… He already knows the inflections of our voice and the state of our hearts at any given moment. All He desires is for us to know Him just as well… just as intimately. This, my friends, is developed simply by spending time with Him, getting to know Him and who He was, is, and will be forever and ever. Knowing Him more means knowing His voice when He calls us, when He speaks to us through each moment of our day. When we know Him as intimately (hopefully more) than we know our parent, our spouse, our child, we will undeniably be able to recognize His voice when He speaks… with no confusion… with no question. For those of us who are forever questioning our path… all it takes is more intimacy with our Father to hear the instructions clearly. THAT is why we are taught to take our questions, our prayers, our problems, and our desires to Him and not try to do it all on our own… the quiet times with Him that we could be spending working or being productive are simply going to develop an intimacy with Him so that we don’t waste any more time being unproductive, walking the wrong paths, making the wrong decisions. Knowing Him saves us time to do what we need to do… simply because He gives us the directions to take the shortest route possible to where we need to be.

As I sit here writing this I laugh at how simple this is to understand, but how difficult it is to truly live. Father, thank you for stripping me of unnecessary things in my life, no matter how much I think I need them, so that I learn to be still in your presence and just get to know who YOU are. All I want is to know You more, to learn the inflections of Your voice, and to recognize Your footsteps at my door. Thank you for your unconditional love, understanding and patience with me… with us as your children. I surrender my life to You. You have already surrendered Yours for me.