If you remember the days when our church gathering met at Greater Macedonia, then you will be able to visually track along with what I’m saying. But I will explain the scene for those who cannot picture what I’m saying.

The children’s ministry set up at Greater Macedonia was a large gym room. We didn’t have separate individual classrooms for everyone to meet in. So, we had all the groups spread out across the room, and we used 6 foot tall wall dividers to create a little semblance of a room. While they didn’t cancel out any of the noise from the other groups in the area, they at least helped visually blocking out the other groups.

I remember one day it was my week to be teaching the 5 year olds, and I was sitting on the floor playing blocks with Timothy Swann. In case you’re wondering, yes, the Swann children make it into every sermon or blog at Hope.

As Timothy and I were sitting on the floor playing blocks, he looks at me and asks, “Mr. Matt, where is Mrs. Staci” (my mom)? I looked back at Timothy and said, “I’m not sure, bud. I don’t think she is here yet.”

We keep playing and after 5 minutes I look at Timothy and say, “Timothy, Mrs. Staci is here!” He looks at me confused and says, “where?” I say, “she’s on the other side of that wall divider.” Still confused, he says, “How do you know? I can’t see her.” I reply, “Well because I can hear her.” Timothy says, “Well, how do you know it’s her?” I laugh to myself and say, “Well, because when you’ve lived with someone your whole life, you know what their voice sounds like. You get pretty good at identifying their voice.” He looks at me and says, “Oh.”

That fun and simple interaction has impacted me deeply with how I think about hearing God’s voice. One of the best and most effective ways to truly know someone is through spending time together. And then after you’ve spent time together, spending more time together.

It’s easy for me to call out my mother’s voice, because I’ve heard it my whole life. It’s easy for me to identify my sister’s voice, because I’ve heard it my whole life. If I’m being honest, sometimes it’s easy for me to identify the enemies’ voice, because I’ve listened to it so much throughout my life. And if I’m being really honest, sometimes I feel like I know Satan’s voice like I know a friend’s voice. I think I’ve given the enemy way to much facetime in my head and in my life.

God has spoken to us in His revealed Word. We have permanent and written words of God. We don’t have to guess what God says to us. And the way that His voice becomes clear to us, the way his voice becomes instinct for our hearing is through spending time time time time time with Him soaking in His presence and in His Word. 

This is not me asking you, “Do you have your quiet time every morning? Do you read the Bible for 30 minutes every day?” There’s no system or rules.

But do you have a constant and consistent time of soaking in God’s presence through His Word, prayer, worship, and loving Him?

Time is the best way to truly know someone. Do you spend time with the Creator?