He Still Speaks

By Savannah Sibert

The world we live in today is driven by communication. It’s never been so easy to hear from family and friends. Media sources can be accessed almost immediately. We read, hear, and consume more information than generations before us would’ve ever thought possible. We can hear any voice we desire to hear instantly.

Why is there such a struggle to hear from God? Does the God who created the universe still speak to us today? And if so, why can’t we hear what He’s saying?

He still speaks, and He’s provided everything we need to learn to hear Him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685262211

Book preview

Chapter 1

His Voice Is Recognizable

There’s a certain familiarity that comes from spending a great amount of time with another person. As you begin to know someone more intimately, you pick up more easily on vocal cues, body language, and facial expressions and, more often than not, begin to exude similar mannerisms yourself. Whether it’s in patterns of speech, clothing choices, or even in the way we treat other people, we become like what we see most often. Sometimes that’s a bad thing, but it can also be good! The closer we walk with the Lord, the more like Him we become. The closer we are to Him, the more easily we can hear Him speak and recognize what is Him speaking and what isn’t.

I love the story of Elijah going up on the mountain to meet with God in 1 Kings 19. Elijah sees a great wind, an earthquake, and a fire. God was not speaking to him through any of those events. Then came a soft whisper. The whisper drew him out farther from the cave he was staying in, and he heard God speak. You can’t hear a whisper if you aren’t right beside the person who is whispering. Elijah wouldn’t have recognized that the whisper was from God if he had not been familiar with the characteristics of God. Elijah had history with the Lord.

The Lord doesn’t always speak through low whispers; sometimes what He has to say is going to come through the fire-and-earthquake moments. When I speak to my daughter, sometimes I whisper, but there are times that I have to yell or speak sternly. There are times that my voice is excited and loud, but each time, she knows that it’s me speaking. She’s familiar with my voice because she spends time with me. I constantly speak to her because I’m her mom. My voice is how she learns, receives correction, and is reminded of my love for her; I don’t want what I’m saying to be a mystery to her.

We spend so much time teaching our children the language we speak. We do our best to make sure they understand us to the best of their ability and also that they can communicate back to us. Our relationship would be so frustrating if we couldn’t learn how to communicate with each other. It’s the same way with our heavenly Father; our relationship with Him would be very shallow if it only consisted of us speaking to Him.

God’s desire is not for His voice to be a mystery. In John 10:4–5, Jesus is teaching a parable about the good shepherd and says, When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of a stranger. Later, He clarifies that He is the Good Shepherd and that not only does He know the ones who belong to Him but they know Him as well.

Reading this parable, I picture a herd of sheep wandering and the shepherd a good distance ahead of them, scouting the area for danger and making sure the path is one the sheep can handle. The sheep may not be able to see the shepherd, but they know where to go because of his constant and reassuring call continuously going out before them, leading them every step. If the shepherd were silent, the sheep would be lost.

His desire is not for you to receive salvation and then wander through life waiting to know Him in eternity. He walks before you, beside you, and behind you. He knows you intimately, and He made a way for you to know Him intimately even now on earth. I think most anyone who has any knowledge of God at all understands that He knows everything about us. It’s not really a surprise that the God who created you knows you better than anyone else ever will.

Psalm 139 is the most beautiful description of how well He knows us. I think what is surprising to our human minds is that He truly wants His people to know Him. We’ve painted this picture of a big man upstairs, with a long beard and stern voice, pointing His finger in disapproval at us when that isn’t who He is. He is holy and wonderful. His glory demands our purity and awe. He is the beginning and end, He was and is and is to come, yet His love for us led Him to sacrifice. He’s the King of the universe but chooses children instead of subjects.

All through the Bible, His voice is described as being like thunder and like the sound of roaring waters. I can’t imagine the majesty and authority that it carries. I desperately want to hear the audible voice of God. I don’t know that I will get that opportunity until I’m with Him in eternity. However, I’m so thankful I can hear Him through His Word and through the Holy Spirit. The more I hear Him, the easier I will recognize Him, even when the way He’s speaking comes differently than I expected.

The way I communicate with a stranger is entirely different from how I communicate with my husband or my best friend. There are people in my life who can look at me a certain way, and I know what they are saying with no words needed. My husband and I spend so much time together that a majority of the time, I can anticipate what he’s about to say before a sentence is spoken. Sometimes