Do You Hear What God Is Saying? V

Greetings, dear friends! I am glad to once again have the chance to share with you precious pearls of wisdom from the Word of God.

God said to Joshua,

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)

For several days now we have been talking about how every believer must learn to hear God’s voice, because only God knows the best solution and the answer to every question and problem. Yesterday we talked about how God wants to lead us along His paths, which will often seem incomprehensible to our minds.

Today, let us look at some episodes from the story of the people of Israel. The children of Israel cried out, they cried out to God to free them from Egyptian bondage, and God heard them and led them out of Egypt.

“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.” (Exodus 13:17-18)

We see that God led the people of Israel through the desert, and not through the land of the Philistines. At that time there were two routes: one led through the land of the Philistines, where they could buy supplies, spend the night, and so on. But the other way went through the desert, where nothing grows and there was no water, and therefore they faced many problems and difficulties. And God led them specifically along this second path, for He saw that the people of Israel were not ready for war. Because the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for a long time, they had a slave mentality. God led them through the desert in order to change this thinking and to prepare them for the moment when they would enter the Promised Land. For them to be able to conquer the Promised Land, God wanted to teach His people how to wage war.

That is why God tells us not to trust in our own understanding, because He wants to lead us in His ways, for only His ways lead us to life.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 16:25)

Our task is to train our spirit to hear what God is telling us. And even if your intellect fights it and your heart does not agree with what God is saying to you, say to God anyway, “I do not know how this will happen, I simply believe in You!”

One day, Peter and his team of fishermen, who were experts, had been fishing all night but had not caught anything. Then Jesus came and told them to cast their nets once more on the right side. It was the exact same place where they had worked all night. Peter did not start arguing and doubting, but did everything just as Jesus had said. You know what a great catch it turned out to be.

For example, suppose you want to get a particular job, and you have already sent them your CV a number of times and have even had a job interview, but you either receive no answer or they turn down your application. To find out what you should do, you go to pray again, and God tells you to go back to the same employer. What will you do when you have heard this from God? Your common sense will tell you that this is madness, because no one there will want to talk to you about it. Our mind tries to calculate how things should happen according to the usual patterns. But God knows better! Pray like this, “Lord, teach me to hear what You say. I do not want to listen to the voice of my own reason, I do not want to submit to my own feelings, I do not want to live according to what the experts say, I want to live according to Your Word!”

The Bible teaches us to live according to every word that comes from the mouth of God. When we live according to His Word, God gives us life.

“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” (Matthew 4:4)

May the Word of God and the voice of God become the main guides of your life!

May God bless you!

Until tomorrow!

Pastor Rufus Ajiboye