Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? He said, But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Exodus 3:10-12
When God Speaks to Us
In the story of Moses, we see God speaking to Moses through a burning bush in the desert. In the Bible, God spoke to people in many different ways. Some of the ways He spoke was through angels, visions, prophets, dreams, and miraculous signs. He spoke to people who knew who He was and what He was saying. We know God, but the ways He speaks to us today are not quite as obvious as a burning bush. What are some of the ways that God speaks to us today? God speaks to us today through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, the church, and the Holy Spirit..
God speaks through the Holy Spirit - When Jesus was alive, God spoke through Him. When He knew He was going to be crucified, He prepared the disciples by telling them about the gift of the Holy Spirit that they would receive when He was gone. The Holy Spirit would come and take up residence in the life of a believer. He is always with us and because He is always with us, He can speak to us clearly at any time - if we are listening and open to what He says. When we have a close relationship with Him, we know His voice and hear what He says.
God Reveals Himself and His purpose for us - Just as God did with Moses, God reveals Himself and His purpose for our lives to us - but they might not be at the same time. He always wants us to respond to Him when He speaks to us because He reveals Himslef to us to draw us into a relationship with Him. But there will be times when He reveals Himself - calls us - and He is not ready to reveal His purpose for us yet. Like Moses’ time in the desert, there may be a period of growth and transformation we need to go through to be ready to carry out our purpose. To respond properly to God when He reveals Himself, we must believe that God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do. When we believe this, we will respond with obedience and trust.
God Reveals His Ways - Sometimes when God reveals Himself and our purpose to us, we immediately begin to try to figure out how we can make that happen, even though we know His ways are different than our ways. God uses His own ways to accomplish His purposes. Normally we don’t see the possibility in accomplishing God’s purposes in our lives because there is no way we can do it in our power. But with God working in us and through us, He can accomplish His purpose in our lives. God’s purposes, accomplished in His ways, always bring glory to Him.
We can be sure that when God has a purpose for us, He already has it all worked out. He speaks to us and reveals Himself and His purpose at the perfect time. He already has the way paved for us and will reveal it all to us as we need to know. He already sees around every bend and He can already see the end of the story. We can step out in obedience and trust Him every step of the way.
So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11
