As a "late bloomer" Christian as I call myself; accepted the Lord at age 42 years. I remember so many words that were tossed out to me about what a Christian should be like, should do and what God will do for me.  But those first ten years of my Christian walk, I only heard His voice once and believe it or not; He said my name.  Actually it is the only time of my 30 years of walking with the Lord, that I actually heard God speak my name.

I had been working at Cordova Church of the Nazarene in the Children's Department.  All of us parents/grandparents were at a Youth Group Meeting.  The leader at the time, John Tighe, was looking for someone to help.  We knew the reason for the meeting ahead of time and all had been praying.  But no one spoke up.  I was in the back with my two teens and their friends; I heard my name.  I looked around but everyone was listening to the Youth Leader.  I shook it off and two more times I heard my name.  The third time, I told my kids "cut it out".  But they didn't know what I was talking about. Then I knew it had to be God. So I said Yes and that started an adventure that lasted 6 years!

The Word says that God has a voice.  His is a great thundering voice. But He rarely uses it!  Samuel 3:9 says, " Speak LORD, for Your servant is listening."  But in truth, He doesn't speak as we would expect Him too. Like Samuel, we lie in our beds waiting for His words. But I can tell you that God does speak to us, but does it indirectly.  Even in the bible, God does not speak with His own voice byt through the voice of others. 

I feel and hear Him when I am reading Scripture and worship music.  We have an agreement that I would like Scripture verse and a song to be His way of speaking to me.  I am one of those people, who will get an idea and I am off and running.  Guarantee in ministry, this has backfired on me several times. So now I wait and silence doesn't bother me anymore.  If I was a prophet, maybe I would think differently as I am use to God speaking to me.

I came across an article" Making Sense of God's Silence".  This explanation helped me and has helped others that I have counseled with.  " This is how we should understand the silence of God.  We ought to take it as a sign that we have God's full attention.  We should interpert it as the patient response of a loving Heavenly Father, who knows that there are times when the best thing to do is simply listen.  It is the thoughful response of a wise father, who understands the question thoroughly, but also knows that his child is unable to understand the answer.

Just be like Samuel, "Speak LORD, for Your servant is listening". 

Adults
Adults