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Knowing God's Voice
by
Major Doug Burr
Because of
certain recent events, I find myself again wondering why so
many people miss the moving of the Holy Spirit. It absolutely
staggers me when this happens- more so, because we say we are
a holiness movement. You would think people who especially
concern themselves with the Holy Spirit would be more attuned
to what he is doing at any given moment. Unfortunately this is
not the case and I find myself agonizing over these times when
God moves in our midst, but we are woefully ignorant of his
presence and miss out entirely on what He has for us.
I've been seeking God on this issue a lot lately and that
means He will eventually lead me to a better understanding of
it all. I believe this, because I believe the scripture that
tells us ask (and keep asking) and it will be given; seek (and
keep seeking) and you will find; knock (and keep knocking) and
the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7). Here's what I have so
far:
Knowing when the Holy Spirit is moving is basically an issue
of hearing/discerning God's voice. If He moves and you know
it, you are discerning God's voice. If He moves and you miss
it, you are not discerning God's voice (for now, let's
sidestep the possibility that you hear His voice and choose to
ignore it- that's another whole can of worms!).
This is such an important issue for me, because to "know God's
voice" is one of my life goals. Whatever happens in my life, I
don't ever want to miss God! When He moves, I want to be right
there with Him! Therefore when we miss God and I have no
control over it (I'm not leading the service or I don't have
the authority to interrupt), I am crushed. I believe never
wanting to miss God should also be a legitimate desire for
every Christian. After all, if God is trying to tell us
something or do something specific in our midst and we miss
it, should that not break our hearts?
When God is near He often manifests Himself for our benefit
("manifest" means a clear, obvious appearance, perhaps even in
a physical way). This "larger than life" sense in us that
informs us God is near can be quite powerful. I have rarely
seen people ignorant of God in His most powerful
manifestations. Haven't we all been in (what we call)
"special" meetings when and all of a sudden- perhaps after a
powerful testimony, song, dance, message, etc, everyone seems
to be struck with God's presence? Perhaps the altar is lined
with people seeking, perhaps many are crying, perhaps there is
a huge silence that no one dares to break. These are what I
call "God's two by four moments!" In other words, He breaks
out His Holy two by four plank and wallops us upside the head!
We can't miss Him then! We often speak of this sensation as a
"heaviness in the air" or "in our hearts."
A few years ago, I was teaching a Bible study on God's
presence. I was trying to get this very point across when all
of a sudden - wham! God was there! I stopped and tried
to breathe, but I was worried that any small movement might
spoil the sensation (yes- sensation. Despite what some think,
our emotions and senses really do play a vital role in our
experiencing God*). I looked around the circle and everyone's
eyes were as wide as dinner plates! Then I realized this was
the best possible illustration I could have asked for, so we
talked about what God was doing and had everyone take note of
what this specifically felt like and what was happening. Our
time was running late, but no one wanted to break the peace
and well-being with which God was covering us in those few
precious moments. Then slowly, He began to withdraw the
manifestation. Soon we were all "back to normal," but God had
taught us something very important that we would not soon
forget. In fact, we sought this experience as often as God
would allow it, because actively seeking God and the knowledge
of His presence is vital to our relationship with Him. If God
is moving and/or speaking we can be sure it is with a purpose!
That's why we listen- to know what to do and follow His lead.
But what if God sometimes chooses to move with less obvious
power? Doesn't it make sense that there would be times when
God is moving, but not everyone present "gets" it? Or to put
it another way, when only some people sense His moving, while
others are oblivious? I believe these are times when only
those who are actively seeking His presence actually discern
His moving. Maybe someone is preoccupied with keeping the
meeting flowing smoothly or their upcoming participation. I
have sometimes found myself almost missing God just because I
was more intent on my part than on what He was wanting to do.
This is how many people miss God- they are simply not paying
attention to Him at that moment; other things are preeminent
in their minds and hearts. We would expect this to be the case
with people who have not yet become Christian, but it should
never be the case with those who have given their lives to
Jesus.
There are those who believe we must focus on Jesus all the
time and not give the Holy Spirit the attention. Is it
important to discern between God's voice, Jesus' voice and the
Holy Spirit's voice? I'm not sure you can do that! Aren't they
all one-in-the-same? Remember, they are The Trinity. If you
focus on one, you are focusing on them all. The Holy Spirit is
a part of the Trinity and as such deserves our worship just
like God and Jesus. Certainly the Holy Spirit points us toward
Jesus, but that does not exclude His participation in the
personhood of God.
Back to my original premise: Knowing when the Holy Spirit is
moving is basically an issue of hearing/discerning God's
voice. Everything I am talking about here hinges on believing
God speaks today. If you are a Cessationist and believe God
stopped speaking directly to His people after the original 12
apostles died and only speaks today through the Bible, you are
going to have to come up with some scripture to back up this
erroneous belief. "Good luck" (it's not in there, by the way)!
Here are my suggestions to help us not miss God when he moves
in our meetings today:
1) Believe God speaks today through any means he chooses,
including His Word, other people (especially kids), writings (blogs),
sermons, testimonies, dreams, visions, music, nature,
prophets, tongues, words of knowledge, coincidence
(God-incidence!) and direct messages to our hearts. Sometimes
He even speaks in an audible voice! {gasp!}
2) Learn to discern God's voice. As His sheep, we can learn to
know His voice (John 10:4). This is Jesus' promise to us. It
comes with time in His presence, practice listening and
seeking the confirmation of others about what you are hearing
(if you're the only one hearing the truth in something, you
can be sure it's not God speaking).
3) Expect God to manifest Himself in your midst. Watch for
Him; He will show up!
4) Obey. When you finally do start rightly discerning God's
presence (voice) and what He wants you to do at that
particular moment . . . do it! Disobedience is the fastest way
to anyplace Jesus isn't.
I will continue to wrestle with the issue of missing God as
long as I witness it happening. I pray each of you reading
this will learn to discern God's voice and obey Him. Never let
His voice fall on deaf ears.
May all who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the
church.
* Footnote:
We in The Salvation Army have roots in the teachings of John
Wesley, who taught what some have termed "The Wesleyan
Quadrilateral." His teachings are based around his belief that
there are four sides to our understanding the things of God-
The Bible, Reason, Experience and the Tradition of the Church.
Unfortunately, some have chosen to ignore three of the four
sides and often insert the Tradition of The Salvation Army (or
their own denomination), which makes for a very
two-dimensional theology.
Certainly, the Bible is the most prominent of these sides, but
it does not stand alone nor should it. We can no more ignore
our feelings (experience) than we can ignore scriptures we
don't like. If we forget the Tradition of the Church and
insert our own denominational traditions as a basis to
understand spiritual matters, we will always fall short of the
truth God intended for His people. It takes all four sides to
get a proper balanced view of God and His Kingdom. We cannot
ignore any side and still expect to come to God's truth.
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