Mensa Otabil - His Voice In Our Choice
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Welcome to day number five of our 40 days of power. I believe that the power of God is moving through you and is at work in you. This week we are looking at God’s guidance-God leading us as we wait on Him. What we are teaching relates to how to make ourselves available for God to use us and to guide us.
Isaiah chapter 30, verse 21: «Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it, ' whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.» The Holy Spirit is our guide, and He is interested in showing us the way. In this verse, we see three factors that influence how we are led or how the Holy Spirit leads us. It talks about the word, it talks about our ears, and it talks about the ways. I will address these three one after the other.
The first thing is that God leads us through His word. The passage says, «You shall hear a word behind you.» The phrase comes from the relationship between a shepherd and the sheep. The shepherd speaks to the sheep, and the sheep hears the voice of the shepherd. The voice is close to them. The passage says, «behind your ear,» so God’s word is always close to us; it is not far away from us. We must not distance ourselves from the word of God in order to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. We must first know what God has said to us in His written word. It is so fundamental to hearing from God; the more you understand the scope of God’s revelation to us in the Bible, the easier it is to hear when the Holy Spirit is speaking a word to you. In the scriptures, we see God’s intentions and His expectations of us, and it is from that that we receive specific direction for the specific areas of our lives.
So, the first factor is God’s word. The second factor is our ears. For the sheep to hear the voice of the shepherd, they must train their ears to hear the sound of the shepherd. Similarly, our spiritual ears must be tuned in to God. «Your ears shall hear a word behind you.» Now you know that this is not talking about your physical ears, but inside your spiritual man, there is an ear that must be tuned to God. There is an antenna that has to be tuned to God. You must be spiritually sensitive, and the more sensitive you are to God, the easier it is for Him to speak to you. We become sensitive as we pray, fast, and read the word of God. We are training our ears to hear from God. You are training your spiritual ears to hear from God. This spiritual exercise we are in is part of the training of our ears to hear from the Lord. If you go through it well, God’s word will become easier for your ears as He speaks to you.
He says, «You shall hear.» Your ears hear the word. The third aspect the passage mentions is that you will hear the voice that says, «This is the way; walk in it.» The way, the word of God, our ears, and the way-these three work together. This means God has already made a way. Watch how He puts it: «This is the way; walk in it.» So God has already made a way. What He is doing is pointing you to the way.
God has a plan for your life; there is a path He has laid for you. It’s a good plan; it’s a successful plan. It’s a good way; it’s a successful way. What God does is say, «This is it,» so that when you are walking to the left or to the right in the wrong direction, He will bring you back to that way. During this time as we wait on the Lord, we want to be able to find the way that God has made for us-the path that He has prepared for us.
There is a prepared place that God will instruct you to walk in, and many of you are making important decisions in your lives. I pray that this week God will make a way clear for you, and there will be no doubt, no anxiety, and no worry, because the path will be made clear for you. May you find a way; may your spiritual ears hear what God is saying to you.
Let us pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, lead me in the way. Open my spiritual eyes to Your word and my ears to Your voice. In Jesus' name, Amen.» And Amen. Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.