"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son"
Hebrews 1:1-2
Our generation is preoccupied with methods. When we find a program that works in one business, we immediately want to package and distribute it so that it will work for others. This attitude carries over into the spiritual life as well. We spend much energy looking for spiritual disciplines, books, seminars, or conferences that work in order to feel satisfied with our Christian life. But God doesn't want us to trust in methods. He wants us to trust in Him.
Trusting in methods rather than in a Person seriously limits the way we experience God. When we expect Him to speak to us only in predictable ways, we forget that God is much more complex than our perception of Him. In times past, God spoke in dreams and visions. He used nature, miraculous signs, prophets, "a gentle whisper" (1 Kings 19:12), fire, trumpets, fleece, the casting of lots, and angels. He spoke in the middle of the night, during worship services, at mealtimes, during funerals, while people were walking along the road, through sermons, in the middle of a storm, and through His Son. The important thing wasn't the way God communicated but the fact that He spoke. The means God uses to communicate with us is irrelevant; the fact that He's communicating is what's critical.
Have you lost your sense of awe that the Creator still chooses to speak to you, His creation? Do you approach the reading of your Bible with a holy expectation, listening for the life-changing words God has for you that day?
God's Word is powerful. When God speaks, nothing remains the same. At the beginning of time God spoke, and a universe was created from nothing. God followed a pattern when He created the earth: He spoke; it was so; it was good (see Gen. 1:3-4). This pattern continued throughout the Bible. Whenever God revealed His plans, things happened just as He said, and God considered the result good (see Phil. 2:13). God doesn't make suggestions. He speaks with the full determination to see that what He has said will come to fruition.
Whenever Jesus spoke, what He said came to pass. Lepers found that a word from Jesus meant healing (see Luke 5:13; 17:14). A blind man discovered that a word from Jesus meant sight (see Luke 18:42). Through a barren fig tree the disciples saw that a curse from Jesus meant destruction (see Mark 11:14,20). A sinner experienced forgiveness through a word from Jesus (see John 8:11).
How many attempts did it take Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead? Only one (see John 11:43-44). There was never a time Jesus spoke when what He said didn't happen.
How powerful a word from God is to your life! As you read your Bible and pray, listen to what God has to say to you about His will for you. Don't limit yourself to a method, expecting to hear from your Father only in predictable ways. Rather, open yourself up to other means by which God wants to commune with you. As you're receptive to His voice, you'll experience Him in entirely new dimensions (see Isa. 55:10-11).
This article is an excerpt from the Bible study Seven Realities for Experiencing God: How to Know and Do the Will of God by Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby.