We are living in very uncertain times, and it is ever so important that we listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will speak the words of encouragement, exhortation, and comfort that we need as we walk through these times. He will also speak words of direction and expectation. But we need to listen!
Jesus said, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." (John 16:13)
In this verse, Jesus tells his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit and describes plainly how the Holy Spirit will lead them into all truth.
That truth includes the revelation of who Jesus Christ is. It includes the truth regarding the things Jesus said, and it includes leading us into the truth that sets us free.
God will give us:
- The truth that sets us free from overwhelming fear, anxiety, worry, doubt, and insecurities.
- The truth that sets us free to believe and trust in God.
- The truth that we are bought with the blood of Jesus Christ, and we are not our own and that we belong to God!
- The truth that God loves His children and, like any loving Father, speaks to His children and brings them encouragement, exhortation, and comfort.
But we have to listen!
The Holy Spirit does not speak on His own; He speaks what He hears. The Holy Spirit hears what the Father and the Lord Jesus are saying and relays that to us if we are listening. Are we listening?
If we aren't listening, we're missing out on hearing the Holy Spirit whisper God's sacred secrets direct from the throne of His grace. Jesus also said, "He will tell you things to come." (John 16:13). I want to hear those things from the heart of God, don't you? Don't you want to have some heavenly mysteries solved in your heart and mind? I do! But will we take the time to listen?
The truth is many of us are not very good listeners. Many of us are great talkers but terrible listeners! If that describes us in our personal relationships, then that is probably true in our prayer lives as well. In your prayer time, I am presuming you have one, are you just asking and asking but never listening? Is your prayer life consumed with many requests but no time to listen to God's answer, no time to hear God's warnings and God's leading? If that's the case, we need to learn to listen!
In times like these many voices are speaking loudly and clamoring to get us to listen. Some of them are what we call talking heads, they just repeat what everyone else is saying. That is true of some Christian voices as well; in their effort to get listeners, they aren't taking the time to listen to what God is saying. It's easier to just repeat the talking points. Christians have talking points too! Just repeating Christian talking points will not have a significant impact on people's hearts. Do you agree?
In times like these, many people have a lot of free time on their hands. They spend a lot more time listening than they have in the past. What and who are they, are we, listening to? Are we seeking first to hear God's voice amidst all the noise?
The followers of Jesus Christ must be extremely focused on listening first and foremost to the voice of God. One way to tune into the voice of God is to read His Words in the Bible. Reading God's Word has a way of getting us refocused each and every day. It rescues us from the tailspin of racing thoughts and places us firmly in God's holy resting place in His presence. I can't tell you how many times when I am reading His Word that the voice of the Holy Spirit breaks through with some phenomenal heavenly thought, reminder, or revelation.
Things like this pandemic have happened many times throughout history. That means numerous lessons have been learned in the past that can help us in the present. And in the future. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11, "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come."
The Bible is God's instruction manual and has many examples for us to learn from. For instance, what was going through the minds and hearts of the Jewish people when plague after plague hit Egypt? There they were sitting in the middle of it all! God's plan was to deliver them, but many had some uncertainty in their hearts. How about you? Do you feel that uncertainty, or do you feel a flood of faith in your soul? God wants to fill us with faith, hope, and power in times like these, and He can!
The followers of Jesus have gone through things like this many times throughout history. Things like pandemic's don't weaken the gospel in society, they actually strengthen it. If God's people are listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, God will give supernatural strength to face the situation at hand. That strength in the hearts and minds of God's people can be transferred through our life witness and testimony to the unbelievers around us who will listen!
If the disciples of Jesus Christ have the right response to God's voice of deliverance, others will see the power of God resting upon us and find rest. How?
- They will see the hope of God still strong inside of us while others are falling into fear.
- They will see the joy of God flowing through us when others are falling into despair.
- They will see a supernaturally strong peace in us while others are being overwhelmed with worry and anxiety.
- They will wonder how we can have courage in a time like this.
- That my Christian brothers and sisters is a witness of the gospel to those around us. They will begin to wonder, maybe Jesus is real! Perhaps what they believe is what I need! Perhaps they aren't just simple-minded foolish people, who are so weak they have to lean on the crutch of faith.
There's an old song we used to sing back in the '70s during the height of the Jesus Movement called "Turn your eyes upon Jesus." Some of you will remember the following verse from that song. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace." That's what we need to do right now! We need to turn our eyes upon Jesus and look full into His wonderful face!
We need that to become our reality, our way of living. We need to do it now!
- Let's turn our eyes upon Jesus!
- Let's look into the heavenly realm where Jesus Christ rules and reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
- Let's look into the face of God and not the face of fear.
- Let's listen to the voice of God and not the voice of fear!
- Let's do it right now!
Jesus said this in John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." The enemy of our souls, the Devil, has come to kill steal and destroy, but we don't have to let him! 1 John 3:8 says, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." Good news, Jesus wins! Remember that in these times, Jesus won, and Jesus wins, always! Listen to the Good News of the gospel!
In times like these, the followers of Jesus are being led by the Holy Spirit back to God's reality. The reality that abundant life isn't about the measure of our earthly possessions and things. Jesus said, "For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15.
If we are listening to the Holy Spirit, we will:
- Get back to biblical, God-fearing basics.
- Get back to calling on the name of the Lord in prayer.
- Get back to praising God throughout the day.
- Get back to spending more time with the Lord.
- Get back to the task of world evangelization.
- Get back to where we should've been the whole time, focused on God and seeking his purposes of plans.
- Get back to hope in God, and not living distracted lives, lost in materialistic and vain ventures.
My friends, this pandemic will pass just like it has before in history. Will there be something else in the future? Yes, I'm sure there will be, but our faith in Jesus Christ can get through those too. We will need to listen to the Holy Spirit to guide us!
If this is one of the birth pains mentioned in Matthew 24:8, then there will be more in the future, and God will lead us through those too!
If this pandemic is a birth pain, then the Holy Spirit will be reminding us that after the birth pains come the birth. That birth will be a glorious moment! With the new birth comes the new heavens and the new earth void of sorrow, suffering, death, and dying. Glory to God!
In closing, let me pray with you!
Heavenly Father, we pray now in the glorious name of Jesus Christ. We pray that you would:
- Help us to hear your voice amid all the shouting voices of the world.
- Help us to listen to you speak your sacred secrets through your Word and through your revelation of the truth that can set us free.
- Help us, God, to rely on you in all things.
- We thank you for your health and healing!
- We thank you for supernatural provisions.
- We thank you for being our light in the darkness.
- We thank you for revealing your steadfast love to us!
- We thank you for helping us learn to lean on you in all things.
Help us, Lord! Help us, Father, to love and trust you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength! Amen!
God bless you today and always, Brian