Hearing Voices
Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. – 1 Kings 19:11-12 NKJV.
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). – John 20:16 NKJV.
Brad Sapp who owns a recycling business in Carroll, Iowa was hearing voices as he worked late one night. Actually, it was just one voice whispering, “Get out of here.” When Brad told his wife, Carrie, about it she told him that he must be “afraid of ghosts.” The next morning, Carrie was hearing voices too, as someone in the chimney yelled, “I’m in your chimney, I was playing hide and seek with my cousin. Don’t call the cops; I just need the help getting out.” Carrie did call the police, and the fire department. Firefighters punched a hole in the brick chimney to extricate 29-year-old Jordan Kajewski. Kajewski has been charged with trespassing. (Daily Times Herald 05.18.16; Yahoo News 05.19.16)
Hearing voices can be a symptom of mental illness. However, as my professor in Abnormal Psychology once said, “But most Baptist deacons would tell you that they have heard God speak to them.” While I was a parole officer, I had a client tell me that he was hearing voices. He said that the voices were telling him to hurt people; but, after he spent a year in a mental institution he was no longer hearing those voices. The last time I saw him, years later, he was doing well and was leading an alcohol recovery program.
Please don’t tell anyone, but I have been hearing voices, and they seem to be growing louder. Actually, just one voice, the voice of God. God speaks to me through His Word, He speaks to me through other believers, He speaks to me through His still small voice as I pray and go through my day. “I come to the garden alone. While the dew is still on the roses and the voice I hear falling on my ear the Son of God discloses. And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own; and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known. He speaks, and the sound of His voice, is so sweet the birds hush their singing, and the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing (The old hymn: In the Garden by C. Austin Miles).”
Have you been hearing the voice of God? Has He called your name? Listen…can you hear Him?