I can’t say for sure whether or not I’ve actually heard God speak to me. I have no memory of a quiet voice in the middle of a storm or a loud word that got my attention through a television’s staticky reception. I have no testimony of a burning bush and have never — in my awareness — witnessed a message from an angel.
Not even in my dreams.
However, there was this time when I was listening to an Apple Music playlist on shuffle when a song by the Irish musician, Foy Vance, started playing.
In that moment I might have heard God speaking to me.
“Come to me, my brother, and I will sit with you a while
Pretty soon, I'll see you smile, and you know you will
No matter how much you're hurting right now
Everything will change in time
So let me carry your burden”
(from the song, Burden)
For Vance, the fedora wearing, pop, folk, bluesy guitar player, is now one of my favorite artists. He seems like the kind of guy you could share an intimate, quality conversation over a beer at the pub and then watch him walk up to the stage and eagerly lead a crowd in a rousing music party. He might not be your typical messenger from God — or, on the other hand, he might be the exact kind of person God speaks through.
(If I knew for certain I’d know better where to listen.)
Though he and the song were new to me on that day, the message I heard was not.
Words I had read many times from the pages of the gospels were hitting me anew. The listening was a genuine “you have heard it said, but I say to you” moment — from the earnest and timely voice of a handlebar mustached guitar player from Northern Ireland.
The song is sung from one man to another. It is an expression of true friendship, of bearing the burden of a brother.
Aren’t moments like that where we are most likely to hear God speak? From a fellow sibling of God? They are often the mouthpieces of Love who speak the truth that our hearts most desperately need to hear.
God‘s voice might sound like Foy’s or it might not. I’m not sure. But in the fortieth chapter in the book of Isaiah, God is singing a similar song. He is coming to His people as the God who bears their burdens. Calling out to a people who are promised a return from exile, the prophet writes:
“‘Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice cries out: ’In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’”
- Isaiah 40:1-5
This is a voice the people needed and were longing to hear. And it matters that it is their God who is speaking. This is the same God whose absence they experienced. The same God whose silence was louder than storms.
It is good to be reminded that our God is a communicating God. A God who has always spoken to His people and who still speaks to them today. When this God speaks, His Word does not fail.
I’m guessing words like the ones from Isaiah are words you also long to hear. Who doesn’t long for comfort? Who doesn’t want someone to carry their burden? Who doesn’t want to hear that their sins are taken care of? Who doesn’t want to be told that all rotten things are going to be made right — and even more than that — made new?
The burden of our hurts, the weight of our sin, the frustration of our stagnancy and bondage will all be lifted and released by the voice of the Lord that declares it to be so.
We may not know what His voice sounds like, but we can be confident that He speaks. And what He says is always good and good for everyone.
“…the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” - Isaiah 40:5
That is a “remains forever” type of good news that is worth waiting for. Worth staying up for to hear it live and in person.
“Come to me, my brother, and I will sit with you a while…”
Advent is a season of waiting. Waiting for God and with God.
It is a season of preparing the way of the Lord and a time to stay awake.
So let me encourage you to be ready and expectant to hear the voice of the Lord whenever and wherever it may be heard.
God is still speaking.
Great piece! And, I’m thankful that God is still interested in speaking to us. In our waiting, in a “still, quiet voice”, through friend, in an experience… God wants to and will speak, eventually…in His time and way. And I am thankful! Always spot on, Jason. Waiting and expectant…
Thank you for your ministry!