Hearing God’s Whispered Shout

Gunner’s wet nose pokes me in the face every morning at 4 AM, plus or minus 5 minutes. Man’s best friend evidently does not need an Apple watch for this level of chronological perfection.

I get up and take him out, where he continues to damage the lawn.

We move to the big room, the one where the kitchen, dining, and living space share the same space. Open Concept, I think they call it. Gunner promptly goes back to sleep, but this time it's next to my Lay-Z-Boy.

 As usual, I read a chapter from my favorite Bible. It’s the Everyday Life Bible with notes and commentary by Joyce Meyer—the Amplified Version. Amplified, hmm, I guess I could have skipped the hearing aids (Dad joke). My bookmark from yesterday is in Hebrews. I read chapter four.

A pause and a sip of fabulous Costa Rican coffee. I’m thinking, “God, there is no way the coffee was any better than this in Eden.” He doesn’t answer. My question was not a question. God already knows how good the coffee is. Perhaps I’ll do better with an actual question.

“What do You want me to do today?” I ask the Almighty in my mind. He, of course, being God, has time for my question. This, I actually believe. I believe in a miracle when I believe that God hears me ask Him questions. I also believe that if I quiet my brain down, I can hear His whispered shout of an answer.

I want to share how this works for me. This is what He wants me to do today. Share how I go about hearing Him.

Sharing this exercise of how I hear God is not what I expected to be doing. I have discovered that success in this hearing business is to have a posture of not knowing what to expect. More on that later.

Note that what follows is an example. It may be helpful to read. Keep in mind, however, that in Philippians 2:12, Paul instructs that we are to work out our own salvation.

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Step One – Ask the Question

My question this morning was, “God, what do You want me to do today?”

I’m retired. My days contain very little in the way of firm commitments. This, of course, is not the case for everyone.

In addition to being retired, I currently have no big storms going on in my life. I’m in between storms. Whenever there is bad weather, my question for God is what to do about the weather. Or sometimes my questions are more like pleas to God that He get busy and calm the storm. Or send some badly needed help so I can get through the storm.

I’m a believer. My life and my world are built on the solid foundation of Jesus. I have been through some storms. I know in my heart of hearts, deep down, that Jesus, my foundation, will never crumble. No matter what. The storms themselves serve to strengthen my conviction. I feel like my foundation in Jesus is plenty strong. I also know that Jesus wants me to become more and more like Him. Hopefully, I can make progress on this assignment without any more storms. My experience is that God may have a different idea about this.

Step Two – Erase the Whiteboard

After posing my question to God, I erase all my answers. I take the mental posture that I don’t know the answer. I erase my mess of solutions and make room for a fresh answer from God. It may be one I’ve already thought of, but it may not. I expect His ways to be higher.

Step Three – Resist Juggling

What doesn’t work is allowing my mind to fill up with possibilities, options, alternatives, and uncertainty. And then think about them round and round.

What does work is picking up a pencil and writing down one answer. Or drawing a diagram of an answer or a few words to clarify the question. While doing this, I adopt a heart posture where I expect to hear God.

In Genesis 12:1, God told Abram to go. “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” God didn’t include in His command a destination, or even a route or a direction. He just told Abram to go with a promise that He would show him where to go, later.

For me, the pencil and the paper are like taking the first step that Abram took on his trip. He took a step, knowing he was to take a step, but not knowing the whole picture. I write on the paper my version of the first step. One step, one thing, one partial answer. I have the pencil in my hand, above the paper, listening for God to tell me what to write down next.

This is how I do it most times. Not always. I have heard God’s voice in all sorts of different situations. Usually, in situations where I have not had the wisdom even to seek God in the situation. These times are more about Him posing questions to me or providing insight or a suggestion. Maybe even a command.

Step Four – Hear the Whisper

I know it’s God when it’s a surprise. It’s a thought that feels more like an intruder in my mind. It usually shows up after I write a few words or notes that have come to mind that were not so surprising.

This is the miracle of a God who cares and is personally interested in us. This is God in me. Usually, the answer is a first step for me to take, but it has an unknown final outcome. The answer usually requires me to exercise my faith muscle regarding how things will end up. It’s an opportunity to trust God, which, of course, he is trying to teach me to do better and more consistently than I do.

Step Five – Just Do It

Take that first step. Flex the faith muscle. Know that part of your faith is keeping the faith when outcomes are different from what you expected or wanted.

Step Six – Listen for the Audible

Keep asking God for the next step. Sometimes we get it wrong. God always gets it right. We need to ask for clarification, pretty much continually. This is because everyone has a free will. And, we usually don’t know the endgame that God is orchestrating. He may call an audible. (A football reference where the quarterback changes the play at the last second based on the unexpected move of the opposition.)

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I’m thinking to myself right now that I did what I was supposed to do today, at least from 5 to 5:30 AM. Gunner is still sleeping. My cup of Costa Rican coffee is gone.

Next question: “God, do you really think this is worth posting to the church newsletter?” I ask.

You know the answer.