What did God say? by Tarsha Njembelle

One of my favorite questions and favorite activities is determining "What did God say"?
It has become a running joke with my family in Christ because I consistently ask this question when seeking guidance in personal situations or giving counsel. It is a great question and a safe place for me. Throughout the years I have changed position on other people hearing God's voice. As I kept asking the question it puzzled me why people could not answer the question.

I remember once realizing that God spoke to people, hearing His voice was one of my greatest desires. The pursuit of His voice started long before I would have the opportunity to be baptized, officially give my life to Christ, attend church regularly or participate in any kind of focused bible study. I first heard God's voice internally around the age of eight. I remember lying awake in bed and thinking about the origin of God. Who were His parents? As my mind became boggled by possibilities, I finally said in my heart, "God how will I ever understand this?". Two things happened; I felt a finger go from head to my heart. It wasn't a natural finger but something moved from my head to my heart and I remember Him saying something like, "Don't understand me here in your head, understand my in your heart."

It would take 20 years for me to know God spoke to me from that time onward and it was loving and accurate. In those 20 years, I had a love hate relationship with the prophetic word. After realizing it was a thing, I rarely got personal prophecy. I was often frustrated with feeling overlooked by God and not special enough to hear his voice. That is another story all together. I will share that later. However, once I realized He was speaking to me I certainly thought he was speaking to others.

So, I would ask folks, "Well what is God saying?" Certainly, they had spent the time and effort to hear God's voice as well. In fact, many did pursue his voice but not many were hearing Him. I am sure I frustrated many friends in this area. I distinctly remember cornering one of my friends, having her sit in my kitchen and trying to get her to read a scripture and tell me what the Lord said. Wrong approach! I am so sorry my friend.
I literally believed the scripture, My sheep hear my voice, and another they won't follow. (John 10:4-5).

After that encounter, I no longer believed that everyone hears. It is not because the scripture is untrue. I discovered it is because everyone doesn’t know what they hear. There are many reasons for this, which I will address at another time, but quite simply hearing in quiet and hearing in a live concert hall is a different experience. Hearing someone fifty feet away and hearing someone in your ear is different. Hearing to gain understanding is different than just listening for a “yes”. None of the external factors have anything to do with whether the person is speaking or not but has a lot to do with whether people can hear.

My encouragement to all who want to answer the question of "What did God say?" is to consider the conditions you are expecting to hear him. Is it dedicated quiet time, are you close enough, are you willing to hear what he has to say? Are you willing to accept the written word as God’s voice? Are you willing to accept the fact that He is speaking even when it seems you cannot hear?

 Tarsha Njembelle, HNIJC

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