Afraid to hear what God wants to say?

Have you ever ignored God for a while, simply because you are afraid to hear what God wants to say?  Have you ever  ignore God’s voice, simply because you assume that He does not want to give you that one thing you desire?

In this blog I will discuss three reasons why we sometimes tune out God’s voice and what you can do to boldly open your ears to hear Him yet again.

Why are we afraid to hear what God wants to say?

Forgetting God’s nature

In the previous blog I spoke about Adam and Eve hiding from God after they have sinned.  Up till that point they have experienced the perfect relationship with God.  They have lived without sin and there was no barrier between them and God.  Once the shame of sin entered, it drastically changed their relationship with God.  I think that for the first time they probably thought that they would experience the wrath of God and that they needed to hide themselves, as best as is possible.  Adam and Eve forgot the kind of God they have had a relationship with, up till that point.  Fear stepped in and Adam and Eve became afraid to hear what God wants to say.

There are times when we also relate to God like Adam and Eve did.  When sin, shame or fear steps in, we forget the nature of God, that He is a good God and there is no darkness nor lies to be found in Him.  We just assume that He will ‘handle’ us with spite and resentment.  As a result we rather don’t want to talk with Him and hear what He wants to say to us.

Thinking God wants to punish you

One of the greatest misconceptions in our walk with God, is the notion that God will only be kind to you when you don’t ‘mess up’.  We think that there is a parallel between our actions and the way God will treat us.  This means when you are acting ‘less than perfect’ God will punish you in some or other way.  You become afraid to hear what God wants to say, because you are expecting judgement.  Did you know that this kind of thinking is a lie?  There is simply no parallel between your actions and how God will react to you.  When the Bible talks about the love of God, it is not a love that is given when you are ‘good’ and witheld when you ‘mess up”.  There is no condition related to God’s love.  He loves you with an everlasting love. God loves you through everything, with the same intensity and the same fire of passion.  Nothing you have done will make Him turn away from you.  He truly is not in the business of punishing you.

Thinking that God does not want the best for you

Have you ever had a desire for something, but were too afraid to talk with God about it…simply because you think He will want to spite you by withholding that from you?  I think one of the greatest revelations about the nature of God, is that He loves the desires of our heart.  (Ps 37:4) It is His pleasure to grant us the desires of our heart (Ps 20:4).  It is true that not all our desires always come to pass when we want it to.  God in His wisdom gives us those desires at the right time and when it will not harm us.  The fact is, though, that God loves it when we approach Him with our desires.  He loves it when we petition Him for these things and when we step out in faith.  He has made His desires our desires.

5 Steps you can follow to move beyond the fear

Step 1:  Take time to read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  As you read, ask God to show you His nature.

Step 2:  Ask God what you are afraid of.  Ask Him to give you specific knowledge of the reasons why you are afraid to talk with Him.  You will find that He might speak to you through the thoughts you think, scripture, through conversations with friends or sermons you are listening to.  Acknowledge your fear to God and repent of it.

Step 3:  Ask God to deliver you from fear.  Ask Him to fill you with His love, since this cast out all fear.

Step 4:  Repent of the fear and ask for God’s forgiveness and cleansing.

Step 5:  Boldly approach God and talk to Him about the issue you have been avoiding.  Be willing to hear what He wants to say.

Conclusion

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind.  When we operate in fear, its very difficult to hear His voice.  So step into God’s love so that He can speak to you!