Believing is Hearing
“And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” (Luke 1:20, NIV)
The Armistead family has a tradition of watching classic Christmas movies together every December. One of our favorites is The Santa Clause.
This passage describing Zechariah’s unbelief at the announcement of Gabriel that he and his wife are going to have a child reminds me of a scene in The Santa Clause. Scott Calvin and his son, Charlie, have arrived at Santa’s workshop at the North Pole. Charlie is having the time of his life, but Scott continually shakes his head in disbelief. At one point, Scott says to Judy the Elf, “I see it, but I don’t believe it.” Judy responds, saying, “Seeing isn’t believing; believing is seeing.”
In this passage, Zechariah’s unbelief prevents him from hearing and receiving the words of Gabriel.
I’ve never experienced an angelic visitation, but I have heard the voice of God as He spoke to me in the deepest places of my spirit. On every occasion (with one exception, which I write about in my book, Masterpiece in the Making), there has always been some degree of doubt - “Am I really hearing God, or is this just me, or maybe, the pepperoni on the pizza?”
But time after time, I chose to believe, praying a prayer that went something like this - “God, I believe this is your Word spoken to me, and I’m going to act accordingly. Lead me, guide me, and help me to walk in your ways and experience your will for my life.”
Over the years, God has answered that prayer and confirmed His Word in my life time after time.
I’ll be the first to say that hearing God isn’t the easiest, or in some ways, the most natural thing for most of us. At the same time, I can tell you from personal experience that I am able to recognize the voice of God’s Spirit more clearly today than ever before.
But I want to leave you with this thought today - Hearing begins with believing. And as we spend time in God’s written Word, learning about His person and His ways, seeds of faith are planted in our spirit. And those seeds are watered through prayer, through fellowship with other disciples of Jesus, and through a consistent commitment to reading the Bible.
The result is we learn how to recognize and hear God’s Word in our lives.
Believing leads to hearing.
In Christ,
Dan
Tis the season to be listening for the voice of God.
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