Heart Tracks - Voices

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. I Kings 19:11-12

I've always enjoyed those entertainers who do voice impressions of famous people. Some are so good that its near impossible to tell the real from the counterfeit. I think only those intimately acquainted with the one being imitated would be able to tell the difference. I think all would agree that the enemy is always trying to disguise his voice as being that of the Father's. Knowing the difference is central in the life of the believer. But here's a twist on that that we don't often consider. God's voice can be very different from one encounter to the next. So not only do we need to know His voice, we also need to know His heart.

It's easy to take the above Scripture and make it a "blueprint" for recognizing His voice. We focus on the "gentle whisper" aspect of His speaking. Since He wasn't in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, He must then always be in the whisper. Many times He is, but He never places such restrictions on Himself. We need to be so attuned to Him, to His heart, that we can look for Him, hear Him in the earthquake just as clearly as the whisper. We need to know that He will choose the means of His speech. Our part is to have the ears of our heart poised to hear whatever He speaks whenever He speaks it, no matter how He speaks it.

Sometimes He shouts. Sometimes He whispers. Sometimes He shakes. Sometimes He brings everything to a standstill. Our spirits have to be sensitive to the differences, sometimes very subtle ones, and hear what He is saying regardless of the means through which He says it. Jesus said that "My sheep know My voice and follow Me." He never said that His voice would only be heard by His sheep in one way. He just said that we would know it, no matter how that voice might sound.

There is a powerful spirit of deception upon the church these days. We are to know His voice, yet so many are being led down paths that take them not into the heart of the King, but ever further from it. And all the while, they believe it is His voice they follow. They may have heard the sound of the wind, the earthquake, the fire or the whisper, but they were deceived as to whose heart the voice came from. The ears of the their hearts were more attuned to the sounds than to the heart they came from. To what degree might that be so with you and me? How many places of ruin have we gone to because we thought it was Him doing the leading? How many more such places are yet to come?

The Spirit speaks in any and all ways. The devil will try to imitate Him and deceive us in any and all ways. Only those bound to His heart will know the difference, regardless of the differing means He uses to speak. Whatever voice He might use with you, will you know it is Him? The enemy/imitator is always speaking. So is the voice of the Spirit. Which do you follow?

Blessings,
Pastor O