“For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.”—Job 33:14
A few years ago, I underwent some medical diagnostics, which included a hearing evaluation. Speech reception thresholds were where they should be, word recognition was “excellent,” and sensorineural hearing loss tested within normal limits, albeit with one notable exception: I had experienced “mild” loss in two of the measured sound frequencies. It just so happens that these two outliers were higher-pitched frequencies, specifically those common to female voices, so this mild hearing loss has occasionally served me as a credible (and convenient) defense. (“Honest, honey, I didn’t hear you.”)
God speaks in many ways, and over time His people have heard Him through each of them. This is not to suggest we hear God whenever He has something to say; perhaps most often when God “speaks in one way, and in two,” we do not “perceive it.” Why is this? How can we possibly miss the authoritative Voice that spoke creation into being and us into His image? What forces divert our attention, and which noises clutter our thoughts in confusion?
There are several obstacles to hearing God, and it is crucial that we recognize them as they confront us. Our “flesh”—that part of us that is prone to sin and opposed to God—has its worldly cravings, and these “desires of the flesh are against the Spirit.”1 So, tuning out all desires but our own comes naturally to us, and conversely, we are susceptible to ascribing our self-serving thoughts as being God’s will. These temptations are deliberate, for spiritual warfare is real, and Satan, our adversary, is an active schemer2 who will do anything to deceive us,3 even if it means disguising himself as “an angel of light.”4 He would confuse us, in his cunning, and lead our thoughts astray.5 Then there is outright rebellion against God and the brazen refusal to hear Him. God grieves through the prophet Jeremiah: “I spoke to you, speaking again and again, but you did not listen, and I called you but you did not answer.”6
Yet there is no obstacle that can prevail against God. “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world,”7 assured Jesus mere hours before His arrest. Born of God through faith in Christ, we, too, are overcomers.8 His Spirit lives in us in truth and works through us in power. Then like our forebears in the faith, may this be our resolve: “We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”9
Obstacles confront us; watch for them. Truth is on our side; listen for Him.
“Speak, for Your servant is listening.”—1 Samuel 3:10 NASB
Father, draw us near to You, that we would know Your voice, hear Your voice, trust Your voice, and obey Your voice. In Christ we pray. Amen.
1 Galatians 5:17
2 Ephesians 6:11
3 2 Corinthians 11:3
4 2 Corinthians 11:14
5 2 Corinthians 11:3
6 Jeremiah 7:13 NASB
7 John 16:33
8 1 John 5:4
9 2 Corinthians 10:5 RSV
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Paul Nordman—Author 