What happens when we hear God’s voice? How does it change us and our community?
God’s voice is the real catalyst for change that we desperately need. In chemistry, a catalyst is a substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected. God is the real catalyst who precipitates events or changes. He is the One who whispers ideas to us, who gives us inspiration, who nudges us to do things which may not seem particularly earth-shattering in many ways but which gradually cause a shift in the way things are done.
Think of William and Catherine Booth serving tirelessly among the homeless in London, ultimately founding the Salvation Army because they heard God’s concern for the poor and needy in their personal times with God.
Think of Elizabeth Fry, driven by divine compassion into the hellhole of Newgate prison and the force behind prison reform, motivated by the love of God to make a difference to her society.
Think of William Wilberforce and others, labouring to see the slave trade abolished because they listened to God’s heart of freedom for all.
Or what about George Washington Carver who used to pray regularly to ‘Mr Creator.’ One night he walked out into the woods and prayed ‘Mr Creator, why did you make the universe?’ He listened and felt God answer ‘Little man, that question is too big for you. Try another!’ So the next night, he walked into the woods again and prayed ‘Mr Creator, why did you create people?’ Again, he felt the answer was ‘Little man, that question is too big for you. Try another!’ So on the third night, he asked ‘Mr Creator, why did you create the peanut?’ And he felt God say ‘Little man, that question is just your size. You listen and I will teach you.’ And apparently he went on to invent 300 ways to use the peanut, including 105 food recipes using peanuts and about 100 products made from peanuts that were useful for the house and farm, including cosmetics, dyes, paints, plastics, gasoline, and nitroglycerin.
We might never be famous like any of the above, but when we hear God’s voice speaking to us, we never know what that will do or where that will lead. The prophet Jeremiah said, ‘This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jer 33:2-3) He gave this word whilst he was kept confined in the courtyard of the guard, effectively under house arrest. We might feel our circumstances aren’t good; our situations are not what we want them to be; we might feel we ourselves are not where we want to be or who we want to be… but nothing is a barrier to God speaking. Let’s call and listen for His voice and be prepared to hear great and unsearchable things we do not know, to be changed forever by the things that God will say.