When the South stubbornly persisted in slavery in the mid 1800’s, a hero named Harriet Tubman appeared on the scene. Even though she was born a slave, God used her to lead hundreds of enslaved people to freedom, as a conductor, in the Underground Railroad.
At first glance you would think she was an unlikely candidate. She was 5 feet tall, uneducated, a slave, a field worker, and a black woman. History records she made 19 trips in the Underground Railroad, freed over 750 slaves, and never lost anyone along the journey.
Even though she deserves many accolades for her selfless acts of bravery, it’s her ability to hear God that I want to celebrate today. After receiving a severe head injury from a local slave owner, it is recorded that the side effects caused her to have dreams and visions. Without warning she would slip into a trance-like sleep. And, it was during these periods that God spoke to her vividly.
In the movie, “Harriet,” her character stated, during these trances, she focused all of her attention on God’s visions. She didn’t always know what to do, but she always responded by acting immediately upon what she saw. God took someone that society deemed as worthless and revealed her usefulness in his plans for freedom. The I am, who I am, used Harriet to end a life in bondage for 750 people and allowed them to begin a new life as freed men and women. It was an effortless task on God’s part. But it would take someone with Harriet’s faith, belief, and sense of urgency to pull this off.
Hebrews 3:7-8 expresses a similar urgency for responding when hearing from God. Paul’s letter emphasizes a strong priority to act TODAY, because now is the time. To support his argument, Paul, quickly gave a history lesson about the ones traveling with Moses from Egypt. Unlike Harriet, they rebelled against God, they did not act on His command, and they had to wander in the desert for 40 years. So, a caution is given to the believers to BEWARE.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Don’t fall into that same hardhearted, do-it-my-way mentality. Listen to God’s voice and respond. God speaking to believers started long before Harriet. There were others in the Bible that said yes to God’s specialized method of communicating to them. Joseph had a dream, and responded by organizing a farming project that saved thousands from starvation. God spoke to Gideon using a fleece, and Gideon led a trimmed down size army to victory.
He spoke to His disciples through His son. And, now we can hear His voice every day in the Bible. Little by little we see God synchronizing His method of speaking to us prior to Jesus, with Jesus, and after Jesus with the ultimate goal of always being connected to us.
This ability to hear God doesn’t require you be a prophet or a preacher or a disciple. You just need to be a believer and a listener.
To broaden our awareness about how others hear from God, I thought it would be interesting to ask ordinary female believers how they hear God speaking.
Here’s a summary of their responses: “I hear from God through – reading the scripture – praying – pausing – isolating to a peaceful place – walking through my situation in confidence – recognizing an inner feeling of his presence – singing – ask others to pray – seeking advice from mature Christians – being patient and waiting on God – I make sure my decisions don’t contradict God’s character and scripture.”
Reading the Bible, praying, and pausing were the top three responses.
The warning in Hebrews is still the same. When God speaks to you, you must be obedient. He is seeking believers that will listen, believe, and respond: “Here I am Lord, send me.” Now is the time.
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Brenette Wilder of Lee’s Summit, Mo., (formerly of Altheimer, Ark.), is president of Kansas City Teen Summit and blogs at wordstoinspire105953116.word-press.com.
Editor’s note: Pastors, ministers or other writers interested in writing for this section may submit articles to shope@adgnewsroom. com. Please include your phone number and the name and location of your church or ministry.