And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them.” [Deuteronomy 5:24 (NIV)]

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. [Psalm 29:3-4 (NIV)]

God speaks to us in many ways. The most obvious way He does, of course, is through the Bible; indeed, it is “God-breathed.” Sometimes, however, it is simply through coincidences, circumstances or “Aha!” moments like the one I wrote about in yesterday’s message. Sunrises and sunsets, births and deaths, chance encounters, close calls, and even bunnies and bright green anoles: they can all be the voice of God. Some people are sure they’ve actually heard God speak. While it didn’t sound like the thunder mentioned in the Bible, I’ve heard His voice telling me things like, “One step at a time,” “Patience,” and even “Stop!” In addition, God often speaks to us through the voices of others. How many times have you read a devotion, sat through a sermon, heard a song or listened to friends and known that the message (even though it may have been shared with many others) was meant specifically for you at that very moment? Sometimes, we have those instances we just “know” what to do (and not to do) or say (and not to say). That small inner voice that tells us what action to take or clearly convicts us when we’re wrong can also be God speaking to us through His Holy Spirit. It’s called many things: intuition, discernment, conscience, insight, or even “gut feeling.” When we think we’re hearing His voice in our innermost thoughts, however, it is wise to proceed cautiously and return to the first way He speaks to us: the Bible. It’s often difficult to know the difference between our own thoughts and desires and His direction and plan. We need to compare what we think that inner voice is saying to scripture and reading His word is the way to test what we think we’re hearing against what He’s already told us. How God speaks to us, however, is nowhere near as important as how well we listen to Him and how often we heed what He says!

All Scripture is God-breathed and He doesn’t waste His breath. [Jim McCotter]

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. [2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)]