1 Samuel 3:21b: For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
My wife was telling me with a sadness in her heart how many followers of Christ ask her how she hears from the Lord. They tell her they have never felt they have heard from God. There are too many believers in Christ who make this claim. Before we go any farther, if God was willing to sacrifice and resurrect His Son to make a way for us to be reconciled to Him, does it make any sense whatsoever that He would not want to communicate with us?
Today’s verse makes it very clear that God reveals Himself to us by His Word – the Bible. Since God cannot lie, then this statement must be true. Many of the believers who complain they don’t hear from the Lord don’t read His Word. Think of this – if you’re hungry, but you make no attempt to feed yourself, do you have the right to keep complaining you’re hungry? For every believer, he/she is given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon confession of Jesus as his/her Lord and Savior. This is such an enormous gift, yet so few believers tap into even a fraction of what is available to them via the Holy Spirit.
Among the many duties of the Holy Spirit, one of His chief responsibilities is to testify to the truth of Who Jesus is. Jesus is known in Scripture as the Word of God (John 1:1). Therefore, the Holy Spirit testifies to the truth of Jesus via an enlightenment – an opening of one’s eyes and heart – through God’s Word – the Bible. Think about how you get to know people – how do you do this? You spend time with them, ask them questions about themselves, and you observe them in various situations to see if they are who they claim to be.
Without tapping into the Holy Spirit, God’s Word can come across dry, mysterious, and hard to understand. With a sincere request of the Holy Spirit to become your Bible interpreter – coupled with a willing heart to listen, God’s Word will indeed start coming alive. Hebrews 4:12 assures us, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” This sounds painful, but God is all about healing, restoring, and growing. Just like surgery is necessary for physical healing, so is spiritual surgery necessary.
If you approach reading God’s Word as a character study, this will give you a newfound focus. One of the primary reasons for the Bible is for God to reveal His character – His unyielding faithfulness to and love for His creation – that includes you! As your Creator, He knows you better than anyone else, and He wants to walk with you every step of your life. He wants you to come to know Him because as you know Him more, you will trust Him more. As you trust Him more, your faith will grow, and your life will be transformed into what He originally created you to be. Your life will become more fulfilling than you imagined possible.
Yet, this hope must start with entering into a conversational relationship with God. This can only happen if you commit to faithfully reading His Word – the Bible. The Holy Spirit is ready, willing, and able to bring the Scriptures to life and testify to the power of a resurrected life. Are you willing?