Home > Online Magazine > Online Magazine: Edition 40 - April/May 2011 > Pastor's Piece - Is God Getting Through?

Is God Getting Through?

Pastor's Piece

by Dr Alex Currie

Pastor's Piece - Is God Getting Through?

For seven years I've worn the same hearing aids. I'm pathetically deaf in the left ear and deaf to some frequencies in the right. Hearing aids, however, have made a world of difference to what I hear. Recently I walked into the shower with my hearing devices nestled snugly into my ears. These highly moisture sensitive instruments were exposed to water for just a few seconds. I immediately dried them out. Even though I changed batteries they wouldn't switch on again for me. Without hearing aids I find it difficult to hear - I hear sounds but cannot discern words clearly. Without hearing aids, my wife sometimes repeated an idea three times before I understood what she was saying. I sent the damaged hearing aids to professionals, who advised that the internal parts were corroded and the old hearing devices needed replacing. So $10,000 later I am the owner of new hearing aids.

Have you ever done something so stupid you no longer hear God's voice? Or perhaps His voice is distorted or too faint? 1 Kings 19:10-12 suggests that at times God whispers to us. Are there things that are blockages to hearing God speak to you? Sinful practices corrode the soul creating blockages. Numbers 22:33-5. Hearing is so important in one's spiritual life, for faith development is dependent on hearing God speak. Romans 10:17.

Last Friday my right ear hearing aid stopped working. I changed the battery and it still didn't operate. From Sunday until mid Tuesday afternoon I was involved in a Conference at Newport. I struggled for three days to hear what was being said. On the way home from the conference, I took my new and 'faulty' hearing aid to Connect Hearing. The technician took the minute computer off the earpiece and tube and it immediately whistled. He said, 'Well it's not the computer that's at fault - it's a blockage in the earpiece or tube." He found tiny pieces of dry skin blocking the earpiece. A simple thing - if only I had known - I could have heard every word at the conference.

David could write "They have ears but do not hear.' Ps. 115:6. John wrote several times 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says...' Rev 2 and 3. A young boy heard God speak and he thought it was Samuel but it was God. God speaks to us in many ways. Sometimes it's through people, other times through nature. When we read Scripture He speaks. Sometimes we hear Him through that still small voice of conscience or occasionally an audible voice that may say "This is the way - now walk the walk." God's Spirit often speaks.

How do we really know when God is talking to us? Here are some suggestions that may help.

Is what you have heard in harmony with your character, skills and personality? You may want to use a litmus test like Gideon.
Is what you heard biblical and consistent with scriptural principles? Can you imagine Jesus doing what you've been asked to do?
When God whispers, rarely does He go against good common sense and the wisdom of the ages. Is what you heard in harmony with those criteria?
Does God's whisper fit in with your own field of expertise, education, and experience? Often when we speak or write outside our field of expertise we end up embarrassing ourselves and others. For example, in a recent church newspaper, a person wrote in the Opinion column outside his area of expertise, embarrassed the Church and made himself vulnerable.
Consult with two or three well seasoned Christian friends about these whispers. Listen carefully to their godly counsel.

But whatever you do, keep listening, because our God is a speaking God. Hebrews 1:1-2.

Home > Online Magazine > Online Magazine: Edition 40 - April/May 2011 > Pastor's Piece - Is God Getting Through?