Hearing from God is one of those interesting situations that is hard to describe. It is especially difficult since so many people claim that God told them something when in reality, they thought of it themselves and got stuck on their own idea. A few examples that I have heard…
3. God told me that you need to (insert random rebuke)
2. I am doing God’s will (insert heinous crime or completely awkward situation)
and my personal favorite…
1. God told me that we are going to get married.
Has anyone heard of any of these? Sometimes they are very extreme, while others are simply funny. But the truth is that it can be very difficult for people to know whether they are hearing God or not.
With that being said, there are quite a few stories in the Bible that talk about hearing from God. Unfortunately, most of us do not receive burning bushes or the heavens opening and God announcing something to us, so we have to try and piece information together. I have often times felt like that, and I know others have too. It is not a matter of being a lesser Christian for having to do it, it is just not an easy task.
One of best examples in the Bible of someone who listened to God and managed to figure out what he was told is Gideon. This is shown in Judges 6:14-7:25. To give you some background, Israel yet again fell away from the Lord and did evil, so the Lord gave them to the Midianites who were a ruthless bunch. Whether it was destroying crops or livestock, the people of that region did not want the Israelites to prosper.
So one day, Gideon is out in the field tending the crops. He is met by an angel of the Lord and is told that the Lord is with him. Gideon, who is initially taken aback by this, wonders how since his people are oppressed by the Midianites. But the angel insists that he was sent to send Gideon, and Gideon remains doubtful since he is from a weak clan and that he does not have the power to lead. Never mind the fact that he is the least in his family, which never bodes well when it comes to leadership in Ancient Israelite culture. The angel of the lord responds by saying that he will be with him, and asks him “am I not sending you?”
If you were in this position, how would you feel? Would you think that you are nuts, the angel is nuts, or would you be confident in what the Angel said? Honestly, I would think one of the first two! Knowing that there are deceiving spirits out there, I would not be quick to rally the troops and attack a much more advanced army. I don’t see that as having a good time. I would also think about the fact that so many people who do crazy things throughout history do things in the name of God and say that God or an angel told them to do that. So I do not blame Gideon for being the least bit confused.
So what does he do? He asks for a sign. If he really does have favor with God and that God will really strike down the Midianites, he wanted some sort of confirmation, So he prepares a sacrifice and the Angel burns it up, which leads to Gideon tearing down Baal’s alter and building a new one to the God of Israel. All seems to be looking bad for Gideon since the people decided that he should be killed for his actions and the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern people geared up for war against Israel. So with his back against the wall and with nothing to do but hope, he asks for a sign. He asks that God put dew on a fleece that he laid out. The next day he asks for confirmation, he asks for dew around the fleece and that the fleece would be dry. This confirmation made him ready, and he gathered the troops and left.
Needless to say, Gideon (or Jerub-baal, as they named him) was probably riding high at this point. Guess what the Lord does? He decides that there are too many men. I should probably remind you of Judges 6:5 in which the men of Midian were beyond counting and they were vicious. Gideon knew that he could not have TOO MANY men. But the Lord told him that he should not claim victory in his own power. Gideon told any man that feared may turn back, and the number was shaved down from 32,000 to 10,000. God told him that there were still too many.
At this point, I am sure Gideon’s mind must have been racing. He followed the Lord’s advice if he was fearful, and he snuck down the valley into camp of the Midianites. And again, the word of the Lord was confirmed. He arrived just in time to hear two men talking about a dream that they had in which their side would fall due to Gideon. Yet again, God encouraged him.
So Gideon went back, and rounded up his three hundred men and encircled the camp with nothing but trumpets, torches and clay jars. Not exactly intimidating, are they? At Gideon’s call, they blew their trumpets, yelled and broke their pots. This sent them into confusion, some killing one another, and the rest went into a chaotic retreat.
My question is, what can we learn from all of this?
How do we go about this?
Ways God Speaks to us…
1. His word- Is what we are reading in scripture close to what we are feeling? Also, what about those coincidental moments in which we are reading the exact words we need to hear?
2. Other People- Are others telling us something that we are feeling but not saying? What if the person saying this normally does not agree with anything you say? Or what if you do not even know the person giving you this message?
3. Our circumstances- Do you find yourself in a certain situation all the time no matter how much you are trying to resist it?
4. Inner Peace (Or lack of)- Is what you feel inside abnormally calm given the circumstances? What about those times in which you are restless or antsy over something?
I mention these because I have experienced situations such as the ones about in which I was spoken to. Often times I held back on executing what I felt I was called to do, and I asked for more signs. Sure enough, they came. I try to remember Gideon, in that he was not brash or demanding, he asked respectfully for more indicators. The Lord provided them. Whether it was the Angel, the invading army, the fleece or the dream, the Lord set the stage so that Gideon knew he had to do what he was called to do.
That is why I usually spend a decent amount of time trying to mull over what is being said and allow for more evidence before I jump to the conclusion that God told me something. Even then, I remain quiet because I definitely want to remain cautious about what I think I am hearing. This same approach is how I decided to renounce celibacy and when I decided to pursue the ministry. I remained quiet about what I felt could be what I was hearing, and I waited for evidence to appear. When it appeared, that is when I felt comfortable making a decision.
So in closing, I will say that this is probably one of the most difficult parts of our Christian walk. But what I have found is the more frequently you place yourself in the situation for God to speak with you, the more attune to the sound of his voice you become. Just as the sheep know the smell and sound of their shepherd, we become more familiar to our Lord. So as you go through this week, be like Gideon and seek out the Lord, you might be surprised by some of the cool things going on around you that you never noticed.
