When God Speaks

Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – September 19, 2017

By Shana Schutte

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

I love it when God shows up and goes out of His way to make His truth clear.  

One evening not too long ago, my husband and I sat on the porch together. He read from his bible silently and I read from mine. We didn’t share what we were reading.  

After we finished, I shared that I had been struggling in prayer and told him how I had been wrestling with accepting God’s grace, not feeling as if I am doing enough for God. A weight of condemnation had been hanging over me.

Then my husband said, “I was reading in the book of John. John 6:29” he said. “Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him who he has sent.’”

“Me too!” I said, surprised.

“I wrote it down,” he said. (Then he showed me his notes.)

“Me too!” I said, amazed. (Then I showed him my notes.)

Then I cried hard because I knew God was speaking to me and I was blown away by His love.

In that moment, it hit me that John 6:29 was EXACTLY what I needed. It was His answer to my struggle. The Holy Spirit reminded me that what God asks of me is to believe and that all else I do for Him flows from my relationship with Him. Definitely not as complicated as I sometimes make it. Even belief is a gift from Him, so it’s all about grace.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Days have passed since God spoke to me in this amazing way through my husband and His Word, and I am still marveling at how the Lord steps into our lives to give us light and hope and truth.

But I really shouldn’t be surprised at all. This is exactly what He has promised to do. Scripture says that the Lord promises to guide us through His Word. But we have to put ourselves in a position to listen and hear what He has to say. This means quieting ourselves and reading the Bible, which is His love letter to us.

In response to a question on hearing God’s voice, Billy Graham says,

“. . . we don’t need to wait for God to speak to us in a voice we can hear—because He has already recorded His words for us in the Bible. God is not silent; He has told us everything we need to know about Him—and it’s been written down in the pages of the Bible. In other words, we don’t need to wait around, hoping God may decide to speak to us some day. All we need to do is open the Bible and discover the message He has for us.”

Are you putting yourself in a position so you can hear from the Lord? Perhaps like me, you are wrestling with something that has been bothering you for a while. Maybe you feel weighed down, burdened, fearful, or anxious. Take a few moments today to pour your heart out to Christ and give Him the opportunity to minister to you through His love letter.

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