HEARING THE lord
So many times throughout my life, I’ve asked myself: Can God really hear me? Does He really hear everyone? I’m only 18, and I’ve questioned it more times than I can count. I’m an analyst by nature — I want to see everything from every angle. I think so deeply about these questions that sometimes I start to lose faith. I start to question God.
But over the last few weeks, I’ve learned a few things that truly changed my life.
This journey started with anger. I know that might sound crazy — so hang with me. I found myself in a really angry place. I felt like my prayers were just disappearing into the air. I wasn’t getting answers. Nothing was changing. That made me angry — at everyone, even God. I wanted the breakthrough. I wanted to finally be through the rough patch. But when I got no answer, no shift, nothing — it pushed me to the edge in my relationship with God.
And because I’m an analyst, I started questioning everything. I just wanted to be heard.
My whole life, I’ve felt like I’ve had to fight to be heard. I’ve always thought, I have to stand out, I have to be different. But in this case, I didn’t know what to do to get God’s attention. So I did what most of us do — I turned to Google. And something I kept seeing over and over was this: “If you’re not hearing God, you’re not reading your Bible enough.”
Then I listened to a Sadie Robertson podcast, and she said something that really stopped me in my tracks:
“You hear God by the way it makes you feel.”
And that’s when it clicked.
First — I hadn’t really been reading my Bible.
Second — I hadn’t really been listening.
I was so focused on the fact that I wasn’t hearing God that I didn’t stop to notice how He was making me feel.
Psalm 37:7 says, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”
We often miss God’s voice because we’re looking in the wrong places, or because we’re doing all the talking.
Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
We build faith by hearing — and we hear through the Word. That means if we’re not reading Scripture, we’re likely not hearing God clearly.
So ask yourself:
When we’re talking so much, how can we possibly hear?
We can’t.
If we’re constantly speaking, constantly venting, constantly moving, we miss the whisper. We miss His answer. That can lead to more anger, more frustration — not because God isn’t speaking, but because we’re not still enough to listen.
God promises He hears us. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you.”
So this week, I encourage you to listen.
Be silent.
Be aware.
Read the Bible.
Let His words speak to you. He will answer.
The Lord is so big. He is so good. And our questions — even our doubts — draw us closer to Him. If you’re feeling like I did, I want you to know: it’s okay. You’re not a bad person. You’re just trying to figure out how to have a real relationship with God — and that is valid.
Never forget: you are gracefully made, and there is no place you can run that our God can’t find you.
