Hearing God's Voice
Author: Pastor Mitch Williams
February 16, 2024
A few weeks ago, I drove my daughter Olivia, 17, to downtown San Francisco for an early 8 AM appointment. As we navigated the rush hour traffic, we were cutting it close to being on time. Fortunately, we arrived with 5 minutes to spare. After parking the car in the underground garage, we emerged across the street from our destination, a multi-story office building. While awaiting the oncoming traffic from the one-way street in directly in front of us, the traffic eventually cleared. I looked again a final time to my right to ensure there were no other cars.
As I stepped into the street, my daughter quickly grabbed my arm. “Wait, Dad, there could be a car coming,” my daughter yelled unexpectedly. I hadn’t even looked left. Why look left on a one-way with cars coming only from the right? A parked commercial truck also impeded my view to the left. As it turns out, it was not a one-way, but a two-way street. Had a car been coming at that very moment, and without my daughter to warn me, I would have stepped right in front of it and could have been struck to my death. The sobering statistics are that 20 people are fatally struck by vehicles every day.
After dropping my daughter, I went to the local coffee shop to have worship. I hadn’t spent time in the Bible yet that morning, so I found a quiet corner, had a brief prayer, and opened the Word. But one thing I did include in my prayer was a sentence or two of gratitude for God’s watchful care. I wondered privately in my heart how many times the Lord had protected me and I never even knew it.
As I opened the Bible, beginning with the book of Psalms, as is my routine, I happened to be at Psalms 30. I began to read and came to verse three, which reads: “O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.”
As I gazed upon that scripture, I thought of three things. First, today the Lord did keep me from the grave. Second, the Lord has kept me alive in more ways than I can count. And three, the Lord has directly spoken to me today.
The main point I want to make is the Lord longs to speak to us, if we will have ears to hear. That day, I was extra sensitive, I could hear the Lord, through His scripture, as he reassured me of his constant protection. It’s a reminder to all of us that the Lord longs to speak to each one of us. He has something to say to you and me each day. Are we listening?
This Sabbath, we conclude our sermon series, Divine Dialogue, as we address the question: How can we make our prayers not a monologue but a true dialogue? I hope to see you there this Sabbath as we find out how to hear and discern the voice of God!
"Love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him."
Deuteronomy 30:20
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