Knowing the Voice of God

God wants us to know that no matter how difficult things may get for us, he will sustain all who trust in him by the power of his still, small voice, speaking to our inner man daily. This is confirmed by the prophet Isaiah. You have to understand, Isaiah delivered this word to Israel in the very worst of times. The nation was under judgment and in absolute ruin with everything breaking down.

Isaiah told Israel’s leaders, “Turn to the Lord now!”, but they wouldn’t listen. They decided they would turn to Egypt to deliver them. They thought they could rely on the Egyptians’ chariots, horses and supplies to see them through.

Despite this, God did not send all of his judgment on Israel at that point. Rather, he decided to wait patiently until the bottom fell out of every plan. Scripture says, “Therefore the Lord will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him” (Isaiah 30:18).

Sure enough, everything failed, and things only got worse for the nation. Finally, when all their schemes had fallen through, Isaiah told the people, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21, NKJV). God was basically saying, “Now, let me take over! Open your ears, and I will speak to you. I know the way out, and I will direct you. I want to guide your every move, to the right and to the left, to deliver you. I’ll lead you by my voice speaking to you, telling you what to do, down to the last detail!”

What matters is that you get to know the voice of God. He is still speaking. He made it clear, “My sheep know my voice.” There are many voices in the world today, loud, demanding voices; but there is that still, small voice of the Lord that can be known and heard by all who trust what Jesus said.