To My Friend Who Longs to Hear God's Voice:

 Dear Friend,
 
I’m writing just as much to you as I am to me. I'm desperate to hear God's voice in my life each day. Being in college I'm seeing that there is a desperate need for people to find direction, but I think it's beyond that, I think that there is a desperate need to hear God's voice. I don’t know what life will hold.
But I do know the one who holds it.

You can call me crazy, but I believe that what Jesus did on the cross allows us to do more than throw prayers up and hope for the best. I believe that we can know him. I believe we can have conversation. I believe he payed a price for us to hear his voice. And I want to listen.

I don't know how to explain this. I get this feeling occasionally. I got it a lot in Bolivia. I had it a few times during House Group, and at the last bonfire too. I got it at graduation and the day that I prayed for the last locker at Mounds View before I walked out for the last time. I got it on the plane when I was coming home for the weekend and when I came back looking up at these palm trees. 
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It's this feeling of knowing that you are right where you need to be. God whispers to us, but he also speaks to us in dreams, feelings, and emotions, and visions. I think it's wonderful when we hear the whisper of God and obey it and move to Hawaii and sell everything. But I also found that sometimes God has already spoken to us and made something clear. He wants to confirm you once you start doing it rather than point you in a direction he's already shown you.  Dallas Willard explains this so well. "In many cases, our need to wonder about or be told what God wants in a certain situation is nothing short of a clear indication of how little we are engaged in His work." 
 
I'm realizing that God isn't detached. The thing is, we don't converse with God. We usually just want the GPS directions in life from him, rather than the thoughts and whispers and relationship building conversations that he offers. I truly believe that it's in these moments where our hearts collide that his will comes alive in my life. 
 
Even in our churches we don't often talk about what it's like to hear God's voice. But Jesus said in John 10, "his sheep follow him because they know his voice." 

That is probably one of the craziest things you could ever hear. God is speaking to you. He wants to guide you. He wants to whisper with you as you go through each day. But also, I encourage you to listen for more than just a directional signal. I think that life is our terrain, the Bible is the map, and Holy Spirit is our compass. We really can't get anywhere without both the map and compass. But God also wants us to take rest breaks with him. I think he wants to crack jokes on the way, tell stories, and show us how the Bible is culturally relevant today. It's a beautiful adventure everyday with him. 
 
At least, that's what he's showing me. I think God cares a whole lot more than just where I'm going. He cares about who I am as I go. It doesn't mean he won't give you direction, but I think we also need to see what he's already doing in our lives and follow him.  When Jesus said, "Come follow me" He didn't tell them where, but they started moving. Sometimes we just have to hear the "follow me" and as we are going in obedience he brings the understanding. 

We need this for our relationships to thrive. We need communication. We need conversation. We need the daily updates, we need the life advice, the love, the laughter. I believe it isn't any different with God. 
 
To my friend who longs to hear God’s voice, I want to encourage you:
 
You can.

John 10:4, "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
 
 
 
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