God Speaks

By Jeff Caudill

God speaks. When I hear the phrase God speaks, my mind goes to places in Scripture where God spoke in unusual ways. Throughout Scripture, God spoke in visions and dreams or through prophets. Elijah heard a still, small voice. God spoke to Job in a whirlwind. Paul heard God speak in a blinding light on the road to Damascus. God even used a donkey to speak to Balaam.

God may use different methods today, but He still speaks. He speaks through sermons and lessons. He speaks words of encouragement through song lyrics. He speaks through His servants to provide counsel. Ultimately, today, God speaks through His Word. We may read a passage telling us not to fear exactly when we need it. We may hear biblical song lyrics that provide just the encouragement needed for a difficult time.

I have also heard God speak directly to me. Not through a donkey or a dream. He has not shown me a vision. He has not spoken from a whirlwind, yet I have heard Him speak, often during situations when I needed it most. In those moments I needed His strength and direction—He spoke to me.

For example…

My car needed service. When I took it to the dealership, I began prepping for a sermon in the waiting room.

Pause.

It is important to know I was struggling spiritually and emotionally during this time. I had known for some time my role on the church staff needed to change. Our church had reached a point where my role needed to become part time, meaning I needed to find another part-time position. I allowed these potential changes to become a heavy burden.

I allowed the evil one to convince me no one would hire someone my age. That I had no marketable skills. I believed those lies to the point I wondered if perhaps it was time to leave pastoral ministry all together. Satan’s voice in my head had become all I heard: I was too old and had nothing to offer. I believed the lies, and the load was burying me.

Back to the waiting room...

The sermon I was preparing was part of a 12-part series presenting an overview of the entire Bible through significant events. My assignment was to cover Joseph through the Exodus, focusing on Moses’ call at the burning bush to lead Israel out of Egypt.

As I considered Exodus 3, I sought to read and analyze the passage as if unfamiliar with it. This was a story I had heard and read my entire life, but I tried to identify details I missed previously. I placed myself in the scene. I saw the bush—that amazing bush burning but not consumed.

Imagining what it might have looked like, I wondered what God’s voice sounded like.
As I read how God spoke to Moses and called him to lead Israel, I could almost hear Moses reply, “Who am I?” Moses was a fugitive. He felt unqualified. He saw himself as the last person God could use. God responded in two simple phrases that really said the same thing. God said, “I will be with you” and “I AM has sent you.” God was telling Moses He was all that mattered.

As I read those words, I immediately heard God speaking to me. No longer an ancient conversation between God and Moses, those words became a conversation between God and me, right there in the waiting room. I had been saying to God, “Who am I?” And His response to me through His Word—right then and there—was “I AM!”

It was as though He spoke directly to me: “I am with you.” “I AM.”

Into my struggle, into my lack of confidence and discouragement, He spoke, and suddenly God’s voice drowned out the voice of the evil one. I sat in that waiting area with tears flowing down my reddened face. God used His Word, a story I had heard since childhood, to speak directly to me. No one else in the waiting room heard Him. (Although others might have wondered what was going on with me as I sat there crying while I “heard” the voice of God.)

That communication from Him gave me the confidence to act. My burden was no longer as heavy. Motivated by the voice of God, I reached out to others who might be able to help me find a part-time position. The first person told me he could not help; the second never even replied. Yet the burden still was not as heavy as it had been previously.

Within a few days, one of my contacts called with a position to consider. When I first reached out, he had no idea a position would soon become available. But God knew! And these events in God’s perfect timing led me back to the staff at Welch College.

God speaks. He has spoken to me at other times, through decisions, confusion, crossroads, and hurt. Amazingly (but not surprisingly), God uses His Word empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak to us as individuals. In this way, we hear the voice of God.

Consider three simple takeaways:

1. God wants to speak to us. He desires to provide strength and direction in our lives as we serve Him (Isaiah 28:23).
   

2. We need to hear His voice! We need the strength and direction only He can provide and the assurance we get from “hearing” His voice (Psalm 32:8).
   

3. He is and always will be “I AM.” Through all our perceived inadequacies, God’s response is “I AM” (Exodus 3).
   

God speaks! Not only has He spoken, but He also continues to speak. The God of the universe—omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient—desires to speak to mere humans like us. I am in awe God would speak to me and continues to speak to me. God speaks!

About the Writer: Jeff Caudill serves as executive pastor at Cofer’s Chapel and as marketing operations manager at Welch College. Learn more: welch.edu.