How God Speaks to You
Proverbs 1:23
"Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
One of the questions I am often asked is how do we know when God is speaking to us. Proverbs 1:22-25 shows us four ways that God speaks. You will notice in verse 22 that God addresses three different people. He addresses the simple, the foolish and the scorner. The simple person is not a bad person, they are a person who doesn't know any better. The foolish is one who knows better, but won't do anything about it. The scorner is one who graduated from being foolish to criticizing God's ways and His Word. However, you will find that God speaks to each of these groups in the same way.
The first way God speaks is through His Word. Notice in the verse above that God said, "...I will make known my words unto you." Christian, God cannot speak to you if you don't daily read His Word. God has something to say to you on a daily basis, but cannot get His Words to you if you won't read Them daily. Furthermore, God speaks His Word to you through preaching. Often a person misses God's message to them because they are not listening to the preaching. Be careful about becoming sidetracked during the preaching with daydreaming, writing notes, texting and simply not listening. God has something to say to you, but you must listen to the preaching to hear it.
The second way God speaks is through your heart. Verse 24 says, "Because I have called, and ye refused;..." This is God convicting someone in their heart. Many times God will use His Holy Spirit to speak to your heart through the form of conviction. It is very important that you listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, for God is trying to say something to you.
The third way God speaks is through helping hands. Verse 24 says, "I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;" God uses people to do His works. Often, when someone is not listening to the preaching and the convicting of the Holy Spirit, then He sends someone to help them get their life back together. You will often see this method when people show interest in you to get you to come back. When God sends someone to help you, don't reject His help through this person, for God has something to say to you.
The fourth way God speaks is through counseling. Verse 25 says, "But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:" When you go for counsel, God will speak through the preacher to help you to do right or to get right. Be careful about having your mind made up when you go in for counsel for God has a message for you to help you to do right.
The sad part about these four areas is that when a person will not heed God's Word, then destruction comes. Verse 26 says, "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;" Notice, because the person would not listen to God that destruction came their way. It is not always God's judgment that caused their destruction, but many times it was because they did not listen, therefore, they could not hear God's warning to keep them from that which would hurt them.
By way of warning, don't plug your ears to God's voice. You may be running from God by trying to experience the world's way, but destruction will come if you won't listen to the voice of God. For those who are doing right and want to continue doing right, be sure to keep your ears open to God's voice in these four areas so you can avert the "calamity" that will come your way by not heeding the voice of God.