Journey into the heart of God

While preparing this morning for tonight’s session on hearing God’s voice, the phrase at the title of this post burst onto my consciousness. And with it came the thought that our ability to hear God’s voice accurately, is not independent of our walk, our talk, and our character. The biggest problem for me when seeking guidance for example, comes when I do not want to go into the direction I suspect He might be wanting me to go.

Now I’m not one of these people, who believe that the way to find God’s will is to figure out what you don’t want to do, and conclude that that is God’s will! But I do know my heart well enough to know, that what I want or don’t want, may or may not be the best course of action. So if I’m going to ask Him for direction, it’s important first and foremost that I trust Him, but also If I ask, then I had better be willing to follow through. The point I’m making, or at least one of the points I am trying to make, is that the ability to hear God’s voice accurately is closely connected with these two things, my trust in Him, and my willingness to obey.

Please don’t get me wrong here, I am not saying that truth, that correct doctrine is not important, but I did not become a Christian because I was persuaded through propositional truth. I came to Christ because I was desperate, I needed peace and hope and joy. I needed to be lifted out of the desolate pit that I had dug for myself. And when I surrendered to Him, to His wooing, I found these things though the circumstances did not change. That was my first step into the heart of God. I knew, I experienced, the love of God, and it enabled me not only to survive, but progressively to thrive. It did not happen all at once, it is a journey, a journey into the Heart of God!

I have discovered, that God is a jealous lover (Exodus 20:5, and the very first commandment is that I shall have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3). We laugh at the ancients who would make idols of wood and stone and worship them, but modern-day idols are just as foolish. An idol is anything in which we put our trust other than God, be it other people, be it our intellect, be it our agenda for life. So even after conversion, I still had my hurts, habits and hangups and He showed me that unless I put him first, unless I was willing to forsake my sin for example, then my journey into the heart of God was outward away from Him, rather than inward towards Him.

I have often used the verse from Jeremiah 29:13 “You will search me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart,” to challenge those who do not know Him. But I find I need this promise for myself. In other words I will find my way deeper into the heart of God with its accompanying peace, joy, hope and rest, when I continue to search for Him with all of my heart.

Father, I cannot do this without You. There are so many things that would trip me up, there are so many things at which to take offence, there is an enemy who is intent on my destruction. Thank You Lord that since You are for me, no one, and nothing that can separate me from Your love (Romans 8:31-39). But the more I get, the more I want. Keep me searching Lord in Jesus Name Amen