I Get This a Lot

I get this question a lot: “How come I never hear God speak to me?” “Why don’t I ever hear that still, small voice people talk about?” You know what? It’s a fair question, but there’s also a simple answer.

When was the last time you picked up your Bible and actually opened it? There’s a good reason it’s called the Word of God. It’s Words from God Himself written down by men to teach and encourage Jesus followers down through the decades and centuries.

Why don’t we read the Bible? The most common answer to the question seems to be “I don’t have time.” Boy does that sting because I’ve said that more times than I can count.

Most experts agree that new Christians should start in the Book of John. Best explanation of Christianity and the Divinity of Jesus

I did some digging to find out just how Biblically illiterate Americans seem to be in recent years. I found a 2016 Lifeway Research survey that showed only 11 percent of Americans had read the whole Bible. That number likely hasn’t gone up since then.

Here’s another survey from Seattle Pacific University that finds close to 50 percent of American adults read the Bible “seldom” or “never.” And before you ask, I don’t read it regularly enough either.

Here’s a big part of the answer to the question I started with. God doesn’t speak to you because you don’t read His Word. You can’t expect your preacher/pastor to do it for you. Going to church doesn’t cause God’s Word to sink into your soul, where it belongs.

I’m a volunteer online minister at JesusCares.com, and that’s where I get that question the most. We have to get into the Word to get close to God. He WILL speak to you through this.

Let me give you an example:

I’ve been struggling the last few days with the difficulty in the Christian life. The sin in my own life that I’m STILL struggling with all these years later came up to bite me during a recent intense discussion with someone close to me. While there is never a good time for sin, this one hit at precisely the wrong moment.

I’ve been seriously looking into taking professional chaplain courses as a way to increase my knowledge and my opportunities to help others through the Word of God. That heated discussion kicked me right in the heart.

You know the devil is waiting to pounce in a situation like this. “Man, I’m not good enough for this!” “It’s too hard!” “You cannot be a chaplain!” What did I finally do after 24 hours? Opened my Bible, and here’s what I found in Luke Chapter 13.

Jesus was teaching on the narrow road to get to Heaven. It’s a hard road to travel, there’s no question. He said in verse 24, “Many will try to enter (through the narrow door) and won’t be able to once the homeowner (God) gets up and shuts the door (to Heaven). They will stand outside and say “Lord, open up for us!” But He will say to them “I don’t know you or where you are from.”

Now, that’s not the place I want anyone to be. But while there is weeping and gnashing of teeth on the outside, Jesus said, “Picture Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God joining others coming from the North, South, East, and West and reclining at the table of the Kingdom of God.”

Just picture in your mind more people than you can count crossing through the green fields of Heaven and sitting down at a table so large you can’t see one end from the other. The laughter. The tears of happiness. The hugs. The catching up with friends and relatives we haven’t seen in years because they went before us. Just think about that for a minute!

This is the day that will make the struggles of this life worth it!

Can you imagine the feeling of relief and joy when that day finally comes? On a certain level, I can, but I don’t think our human minds have the capacity yet to fully understand what it will be like. But that day will come, and it WILL be worth it!

In fact, First Corinthians 2:9 says, “But as it is written: the eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor have entered into the hearts of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him (you and me!).”

Keep going. This life does not last forever, but the next one does! Read your Bible! There’s so much encouragement in there when things get hard, difficult, or lonely! He will meet you there.