When Does God Speak to People?

Start with the premise that God does want to speak to people…what a thought! Think of how busy your life is, multiply that by over 7 billion people, and then imagine also holding every molecule and atom in place.  Realizing that God, who holds creation together, really cares about the details of our existence should blow us away!  It gets better…God keeps track of the number of hairs on our heads – even though we all lose nearly sixty each day.  The Psalmist David went as far as to say that God’s thoughts of us number more than the number of grains of sand on the seashore – pretty much all the time.  He actually thinks of us all of the time!

Now comes our turn…how often do we think of God?  Better yet, how often do we speak to Him (when we are NOT in crisis or want)?  Take that one step further; when was the last time God spoke to you personally?  Not just through His word, but really got to your heart and changed the way you were thinking about something?

Do you know when God speaks to His people?

Do you know when God speaks to His people?  The answer may surprise you: God speaks to us when we are quiet enough to hear Him.  Think about it: where were you the last time you really felt God working on your heart or speaking His truth into your life?  Interestingly enough, many will say it was when they were in God’s creation.  God’s creation has that kind of effect on us but it is likely that God spoke to you there because you were undistracted and quiet before Him.

Take Elijah for example.  Tired, depressed and wanting to die, Elijah cried out to God to end his life. God’s response was very interesting – He cared. In fact, He told Elijah to go to the mountain because He wanted to speak with him there.  Personally, I think I would have given my erring prophet what he wanted: ended his life and taken him to glory.

Once on the mountain, God sent an earthquake, a wind, and a fire.  All dramatic and even traumatic expressions of Gods power, “…but the Lord was not in the wind…the earthquake…the fire.” (1 Kings 19:11-12) Interestingly, after the laser show of special effects, God whispered and Elijah took off his shoes, immediately realizing he was in the presence of the Almighty.  Elijah was now listening and God was speaking.

Here is the Point

Here is the point:  If we do not hear from God regularly, it may be because we are living in an earthquake, a wind and a fire.  SLOW DOWN!  You just may encounter the Almighty!

At Lake Ann Camp we understand this concept.  We love activities and the connections of life-on-life. However, we will not over-program and miss the real reason why campers come – to hear the voice of God. It never surprises us when God shows up and some really cool things happen between God and our campers. In fact, we expect that as we cooperate with our God who really does care and he will show up. He will make Himself known in our campers’ lives!

When Does God Speak to People? was written by Ken Riley, Executive Director of Lake Ann Camp.