Stephen G. Derges explores how we hear God

Thirdly what if I don't hear from God?

In any relationship there are times of silence and that happens in our relationship with God too. It doesn't mean that He has given up on us but sometimes it's just not the right time and God is preparing us by developing patience or even persistence. It may be that He's longing for us to spend more time with Him before He responds.

Of course there could be another reason - we might not have done what He's asked us to do previously. After all if you constantly ask someone to do something for you and they refuse, you eventually find another way or another person to do it. I believe God sometimes has to take that course of action because of our unwillingness to co-operate. That doesn't mean that He got it wrong in the first place by asking you and it doesn't necessarily mean that it won't get done because you didn't act. It's just that it won't be done with your unique blend of skill and abilities.

Let me illustrate this principle in this way. If I decided not to be a worship leader at our church, worship would still happen; someone else would take the lead but in a different style and mode to the way God would have directed me to do it. I have the choice to hear God and co-operate with Him but if I do ignore Him, He'll find a different way to achieve His purposes.

So there we have it. This is not the definitive work on hearing God's voice - it's an introduction; an appetiser; a warm-up lap before the main race.

I hope through these short articles I've convinced you that He wants to speak to you and that you will want to hear what He has to say. And I trust they will have initiated a desire in you to begin a closer relationship with God to hear His voice for yourself.

Just remember - He loves you with an everlasting love and wants to communicate with you.

ARE YOU LISTENING?

This article has been taken from the short book, 'Hearing God' by Stephen G. Derges. "Hearing God" is one of a series of books - 'Bitesize Beliefs' - written by Stephen addressing the implications of living an authentic Christian life-style in a practical, 'how to' manner. 'Bitesize Beliefs' are designed to be short, introductory, easy-to-read books designed for the kind of short attention span, 'sound-bite' and 'instant makeover' world we live in.