For God does speak-now one way, now another- though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision, of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing from the sword. –Job 33:15-18
In the excerpt above, Elihu, one of Job’s friends, was responding to Job’s complaint that God does not answer any of man’s words. We also have probably felt at some point in our lives that God has turned a deaf ear to mankind. However, from the verses above and many others throughout the Bible, we can see that God always responds, though we may not perceive it.
God speaks to us through different measures such as dreams, visions, through others, through our conscience, through situations, etc. A friend recently called me and told me that she was afraid that she was pregnant. She mentioned that she had been trying to stop having sex with her boyfriend of five years, but it was too difficult. She said, “Rach, I know God is punishing me for being so disobedient…I know He’s not happy with the way I have been living, but I just don’t know what to do…He has to make this go away! I can’t have a baby and I can’t have an abortion, I am so sorry, I really have been trying…I am scared Rach.” I did not know what to say, so I just listened. A few days later, she called me and told me that she was not pregnant, and that she was no longer with her boyfriend; the verses above immediately came to mind. I was very pleased with her decision to place her love for God and desire to please him above her love for her boyfriend. I was proud of her for recognizing God’s voice and seeing his hand in her terrifying situation.
I hope the example I shared allows us to see how God can terrify us with warnings to turn us from wrongdoing and preserve our souls from the pit. God always speaks; we just need to do a better job at listening. Let us decide today that we will strive to better listen to our dreams and visions, our conscience, our situations, etc Also, let us not just listen, let us also heed to their warnings, so that we may turn away from wrongdoing and avoid pride, and our souls will be preserved from the pit.
May the Lord help us to recognize the voice of our Shepherd.
Stay blessed and spread the word.
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HIS VOICE - THE WARNING