"Hey God" Pt.3

Hi, this is John O'Zanting, lead pastor of Evolve Church, and this is the Evolve Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

I love that the God that we serve is a personal God.

He's up close, he's not far removed.

And as I was preparing for today, um Nicole and I were talking through the service a few weeks back, and I was like, I really want to finish out this series, but I also want to make sure that we honor mums.

So this isn't like a Proverbs 31 message, this isn't like a uh rah-rah women.

This is part three of Hey God, in terms of how do we hear from God.

But as I was thinking through, I was like, you know what?

There's a beautiful relationship between parents and their kids, between a mom and their children.

And I actually love that my children know and recognize their mother's voice.

They know what her voice sounds like.

It's a personal voice.

They don't always do what their mother asks.

Um like most of the time.

I mean, our kids are almost perfect, right?

No, not.

But they know and recognize the voice of their mother.

And what's a beautiful thing is it's through closeness, it's through proximity, it's through relationship, it's through time that passes that that voice gets stronger and stronger and stronger.

And I think of the voice of my own mother in my own life, you know, as a 43-year-old grown man with children of my own.

Um, there's still something uh weighty and precious about the voice of my mom in my life.

The older I get, I think the more I appreciate when she calls and has something to say, and when she writes a card and puts something in there that she's taken time to write.

Um, it's through time, through relationship, through proximity that that voice gets clearer and clearer.

And I can't help but believe, to my core, that when it comes to us and God, it's the same thing.

It's the voice of a father, the voice of the heart of God that says, through relationship, through proximity, through closeness, I desire for you to hear my voice and not just hear it, but know and recognize it.

So we're on part three.

If you missed the first and second week, um, that's okay.

I'm not gonna take a whole lot of time to recap.

Except that we talked through the voice of God is more about leading us in our day-to-day how we live, rather than the personal direction.

Like when we talk about wanting to hear from God, it's like, God, who am I supposed to marry, or what career path should I take, or should I take this new job, or should we move to a new city?

We often think about the big questions like where and what and when.

But the voice of God is actually more in tune with our character, our inner transformation.

Who are we becoming?

How are we getting there?

And why are we making the choices that we are?

You know, when God speaks, um, I believe there's there can be personal direction involved in the voice of God, but more often than not, it's actually about who we're becoming and why we're living that way.

And last week we talked about the window, the three unique voices that God uses in our world: the influence of other people, um, our life situations, and the leading of his Holy Spirit.

All three of those can be the voice of God working, communicating, being clear in our life.

And it's always through the lens of the Bible, through God's word, that we weigh and we measure and we trust or don't trust the influence of others and the life situations and the leading of God's Spirit.

So a quick recap from the last couple weeks.

And we've been basing this whole series on Colossians chapter 3, verse 17.

Colossians 3:17

In the Passion Translation, it says, Let every activity of your lives and every word that comes from your lips be drenched with the beauty of our Lord Jesus.

Every activity and every word be drenched in Jesus.

And bring your constant praise to God the Father because of what Christ has done.

Another translation says, and whatever you do.

Everybody say, whatever.

But you gotta say it like a gangster, whatever, much better.

Do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving praise to God the Father.

Question: Do you believe, and I don't need you to answer this out loud, I just want you to think it through.

Do you believe that others hear from God better than you?

Think this through.

Be honest.

Wherever you're at in your journey, maybe you've been a faithful follower of Jesus for generations, and maybe you're on the other side where you're like, I'm not even sure what I believe, dude.

But do you believe that when it comes to the voice of God, that other people must have it easier than you?

It's clearer for them.

Do you believe that certain people or even certain occupations hear from God better or clearer than you?

Do you hold that as a belief system?

Actually, do you hold that as a lie?

Okay?

Because that's what it is.

And that lie, if you believe it to be true, in and of itself could hold you back from that close, intimate proximity relationship that God desires for you to have.

The issue isn't if God is speaking to us as his kids.

The issue is are we listening to God?

Do we know what his voice sounds like?

And can we determine what he's saying?

That's actually the issue.

Not if he's speaking.

What's amazing and beautiful and true is that you can be anywhere along the spectrum of faith.

From the greatest, faithfulest, most faithful follower to the distant skeptic.

You can be anywhere along that spectrum, and God will still speak to you.

Clearly.

If we let him.

Okay?

If we let him.

So I want to talk about three aspects of hearing God's voice as we close out this series.

In light of walking in his ways and allowing the influence of others and the leading of the Holy Spirit on our life situations and the word of God to all speak to us.

In light of what we've talked about so far, um, three aspects of hearing God's voice are this.

Number one, discover.

When it comes to the voice of God in your life, first of all, we need to discover his voice.

Now I've got this nifty paint can here, and hopefully you can read that it says, discover.

Somebody took the time and energy and creative juices to write the word discover on this paint can.

Can you give it up for whoever that person was?

Thank you.

You don't have to be in a relationship with someone in order for them to speak to you.

I'm a I'm living proof of this.

Everywhere I go, I talk to perfect strangers.

I do it all the time.

It's one of my life's beautiful gifts.

I just think it's it's a gift to be able to walk up to somebody I've never met before and say, Hey, Sally.

And Sally's always like, How did you know my name?

I'm like, Well, you were in the name tag.

And um, and uh, you know, or Steve or Hezekiah, whoever I walk up to, right?

But uh, you know, it's you don't have to be in relationship with someone in order for them to speak to you.

However, it helps if you're gonna put any merit in what they're saying, right?

Like if I walk up to a perfect stranger and I'm like, you know what?

I've got some advice for you.

They're gonna be like, take off, loser.

I've never met you before.

I don't even know who you are.

But if you're in relationship with somebody and someone, someone that you know and trust walks up to you and puts their hand on your shoulder and says, You know what, I've been thinking about you, and I got something on my heart.

Can I can I share it with you?

You're more likely gonna be like, Yeah, I'd like to know what you have to say.

So, in order for God to speak, He can speak whether we're in relationship with Him or not.

And I think He loves to.

It helps if we open up that relationship, though.

If we say, God, actually, I want to know what you have to say, I want to discover your voice, I wanna, I want to discover what it is you're speaking to me.

God desires for each one of us to discover his voice at work in our life.

He's a personal God.

His voice is meant to be clear, it's meant to be personal.

I'm gonna be reading a bit from Psalm 40, and if you have time this week, I want to encourage you, like in your quiet time and in your own personal study, crack open your Bible or open up that you that uh UVersion Bible app on your phone and go to Psalm chapter 40 and just read it through.

Psalms 40 · chapter mention

And it's a psalm of a guy named David.

And if you grew up in church, or even if you didn't, you've probably heard about David.

He's legendary, he's the guy that killed Goliath, and then he was a king, and he was a shepherd, and then he was a king, and uh, but in between there he was running for his, it's a long story.

Um, you can read about David um in the first half of our Christian Bible, but he wrote this this uh this poem or this psalm um in the Bible, Psalm 40.

And I've often wondered, I've read this a few times, and I've wondered what was he going through when he wrote these words?

What had he experienced?

Because he's like, I waited and waited and waited some more patiently, knowing God would come through for me.

Then at last he bent down and he listened to my cry.

He stooped down to lift me out of danger from the desolate pit I was in, out of the muddy mess I had fallen into.

Now he's lifted me up into this firm, secure place and steadied me while I walk along his ascending path.

A new song for a new day rises up in me every time I think about how he breaks through for me.

Ecstatic praise pours out of my mouth until everyone hears how God has set me free.

Many will see his miracles, they'll stand in awe of God, they'll fall in love with him.

Blessing after blessing comes to those who love and trust the Lord.

They will not fall away, for they refuse to listen to the lies of the proud.

Verse 5, O Lord our God, no one can compare with you.

Such wonderful works and miracles are all found with you.

And you think, listen to this, and you think of us all the time with your countless expressions of love far exceeding our expectations.

Come on, David, he nailed it.

That's a true statement, whether or not we believe it to be true.

You might believe the lie that other people have it easier than you when it comes to hearing from God, but the truth is, God's thinking about you all the time with his countless expressions of love.

He desires for every single person in this room and outside of this room to discover his voice.

He's a personal God.

His voice is meant to be clear, to carry influence in our lives.

David goes on to write in verse 6.

That's where it starts to get good.

Here's what he says: God, it's it's actually not sacrifices that move your heart.

Burnt offerings, sin offerings.

That's not what brings you joy to God.

But when you open my ears and speak deeply to me, I become your willing servant, your prisoner of love for life.

And as I was preparing, I was like, God, open my ears and speak deeply to me.

Is that your heart's cry today?

Have you learned to allow a personal God to open your ears and speak deeply to you?

Many of us sadly, we work our way through this thing called life, never learning how to let God speak to us.

Never allowing a personal God to personally speak to us as his son or as his daughter.

We live our entire life in confusion, not knowing exactly what God wants for us.

And so one of two things, either we just turn up out of religious duty, or we walk away because we're we get frustrated.

I'm confused.

If God says he loves me, says he's personal, I call bam, garbage.

I'm out.

It's confusing.

It's too confusing.

Ever been confused before?

I was confused once.

Yeah.

I was deciding to do something nice for my wife.

Because I love her and she's like the world's greatest mom.

And um, it was for her birthday, technically.

But I decided to paint the exterior door at our front house, at our house.

And I'm like, I'm gonna paint it orange.

Yeah.

So I went to the paint store to select paint.

There's nothing more confusing than trying to pick a paint color.

Because I'm like, orange.

I like orange.

It's gonna be like light orange, medium orange, medium dark orange.

I was like, maybe like tangerine orange, and then like some other maybe, you know, there can't be that many oranges, but how many shades of orange could there be?

The color orange is complicated because there's so many options.

It's actually crazy.

Same thing, like I I want to discover the voice of God in my life.

I want to discover what God is saying, I want to know what He's saying to me, but there's God's voice speaking to me about my family and then about relationships and about my marriage and about my friendships and about my personal growth and about my eating habits.

I know God, about my mental health, about my physical health, about my recreation.

There's all these different things, it's complicated.

I needed to discover exactly which shade of orange I needed for the front door.

Is it say carotene orange, Egyptian sun orange, jack-o'-lantern orange, maybe it's uh pale orange, maybe it's ginger peachy orange.

That sounds nice.

What if Nicole doesn't like ginger peachy?

She wants me tart orange.

Tarte.

Does that look tart to you?

It looks kind of tart.

Tart orange.

Um, I could go on.

Sun-baked orange.

And there are multiple oranges on these cards.

I'm just making my point.

Flaming torch, orange.

Marmalade glaze, orange.

I'm not done yet.

Wait, orange! Like, how complicated could this be?

Orange blossom, juicy cantaloupe.

Be licking my front door.

Jack-o'-ant.

Oh, I already read that one.

I I think I grabbed two of that one.

Um, apricot nectar.

Yeah, okay.

Do you get my point?

I could read more, but the point is all kinds of orange.

It's complicated.

Yeah.

He's like, there's still more?

Yeah, there's still more.

There's still more.

It's complicated.

Eventually, uh, there's a photo.

I went with that shade of orange.

This is a couple years old.

You can see Julia was in grade six, Caleb was in kindergarten, Riley was in grade four.

And I don't even remember what it was called.

I went through agony, complicated orange picked in agony, and finally landed on whatever matched the orange that was closest to the orange in the brick on our house.

Long story short, my point is this the process of discovering orange, God's voice speaking to us, it can be complicated.

I say something like, Come on, church, let's live for God.

Yeah.

And you're all like, dude, I already picked orange.

I'm already living for God.

But should I join a small group?

What is that gonna cost me?

Should I start serving somewhere?

Should I should I step up and help lead a little bit more as a part of Jesus' church?

Should I um should I begin volunteering for the first time?

We've talked through our resources and we're gonna trust God with with our our money.

That scares us.

Should I let some good friends begin to speak into my life?

Hold me accountable.

I I want to live for God, but there's like all these other options as I want to learn and grow and develop in my relationship with God.

I've already decided to live for Him.

I I really want to know what shade I'm supposed to be painting.

Help me.

It's not sacrifices that really move God's heart, it's not burnt offerings, it's not centered offerings, that's not what brings him joy.

But when God opens our ears and speaks deeply to us, we become his willing servant.

So much of this discovery, this opening up of our ears, is connected to what we've been talking through.

You know, for each one of us, God stands at the door and knocks.

And I've often wondered, is that standing at the door knocking, is that just like the initial invitation?

Like theologically, is that like a one-shot deal?

Like at some point in my past, I was like, okay, God, come on in, right?

Make yourself at home.

Or is that like a daily dying, a daily submission, an ongoing pursuit of, okay, God, today, in this moment, in this season, you're knocking still.

I want to invite you in.

I want to allow you to speak to me through your written word, through the thoughts that you carefully crafted in terms of how to live and how to pursue relationship with you and the influence of the right people in my life and the life situations that I'm learning and growing from, and the leading of your Holy Spirit and your word that covers all of that, and a walking in your ways, I want to discover your voice in my life.

It can be complicated, but it is a worthy pursuit.

So don't lose heart.

Because once we begin to discover the voice of God in our life, what it becomes necessary for us to is wait for it.

It says do.

We do what God's asking.

Once we've begun to discover, we do it.

Discover the voice of God is actually a lot like a can of paint.

When is paint most powerful?

When you paint.

When you apply it.

Right?

We can open up that can and look at the color.

Whatever orange I selected, I just, you know, stir it and stir it and let it drip off those wooden sticks.

That's fun too.

But you know, just admire the paint can and the paint inside.

Just admire it.

But paint's purpose is to be applied.

You know, the voice of God in our life, we can sometimes be so educated in what God's saying to us, so educated beyond our obedience.

He speaks and he speaks, and we love that God speaks, and we love getting together with other people who help us shape what the voice of God sounds like.

We love reading our Bible and doing our spending our quiet time with God, and we love being a part of small groups, and we learn and we learn and we learn and we learn.

But we never apply anything to our life.

We discover the voice of God.

Why?

So that we can do what he's asking us to do.

It needs to be applied.

Remember last week when I wrote on the window, and I was like on the first pane, I was like, influence of others, and then leading of Holy Spirit, and then life situations, and then I wrote word and I slid that window up.

I was I was remarking afterwards if you missed it, but there was like when I slid the window up and I covered the other three with the word of God and that analogy in the room, it was like, oh it was like this audible, like, oh, that's neat, that's so special, right?

And sometimes we get that way about our relationship with God.

We're like, ooh, it's so good.

It's so good.

I just like I just want to bask in it.

I just want to soak in it.

And it does us no practical good because we don't change anything, we don't apply what he's asking us to apply.

Don't just settle for discovering his voice.

Do do what God asks you.

And anybody in the room play video games out of curiosity.

Any gamers in the room?

Come on, all the hands up, proud, all the gamers.

My hands up.

Yeah, you know it.

Xbox Live, baby.

Come on.

Um, they have this thing on YouTube that you can watch.

Uh they're called walkthroughs.

I'm not gonna ask you to put your hand up because if you do, I'm gonna make fun of you.

But um, like playing video games is kind of like a vicarious activity.

You're not actually doing anything, you're just sitting there like with a controller and allowing a computer to do something on the screen.

They have these videos on YouTube called walkthroughs.

So you sit at your laptop and you watch a video of somebody else playing a video game.

And you can sit there, people do this, they sit there for hours and hours watching somebody else play a video game so that they know how to cheat and beat the game.

They're called walkthroughs.

People will film themselves playing video games.

And I apologize.

Like, if this me talking about this is a sensitive subject for you because you're like, I make those videos, then we can talk afterwards and I'll sit alright.

But to me, like video games in and of themselves is like you're not really doing anything.

It's kind of an all-time low to watch somebody else not actually do something.

Do you know are you with me?

Is this weird?

I think it's a little weird.

And the point is simply this we we actually do this in our walk with Jesus.

We do this in the context of faith.

Not only do we not do what God's asking us to do, but we just sit back and we watch other people and critique other people not doing what God asked them to do.

Because that's easier than taking a risk and obeying the voice of the Father.

Make the decision to trust and follow Jesus, it's not a vicarious activity.

It's we gotta get in the game, we gotta play, we gotta play hard, we gotta paint, we gotta do what he's asking us to do.

Most of us here are educated far above the level of our obedience.

And it's one thing to discover what God's speaking to us and begin to recognize and know his voice, but we have to do what he asks us to do.

I can become an expert on the color orange, on all of its nuances and all the diverse shades, and you know, I could I could probably take some time and turn these all into flashcards, and over the course of, you know, it would probably take me only four days to memorize them all.

You just pull one out and I'd go, that's tangerine orange, right?

And you pull one out.

I could become an expert on the color orange and all of its shades, and people are like, hey man, I hear you're an expert on orange.

I'm looking to paint our house orange.

Let me let me help you.

Tell me about your childhood, right?

Oh, you need sunset orange, right?

I could become an expert on all these things, but if I don't, if I don't do anything with it.

As Christians, we're like, man, I just love what the Bible has to say about forgiveness.

It's so good.

Anytime I'm reading my Bible and I see the word forgiveness, I highlight it in blue.

It's forgiveness.

Oh yeah, it's so good.

And some of the some of those forgiveness verses, they're so good that I not only highlight them in blue, but I put like a little asterisk beside them because I've memorized those verses.

And then I can just like read through my Bible, and anytime it's blue, I'm like, oh, forgiveness is so good what God says about forgiveness.

Why are you still bitter and holding resentment against that family member from 12 years ago?

You haven't actually forgiven.

Because it's easier to just sort of read through and discover what it says.

We feel better for having read it.

But we're educated far above the level of our obedience.

Let's encourage each other to not just discover God's voice in our life, but actually do what he's asking us to do.

We discover his voice, we do what he says.

But the greatest aspect of hearing God's voice in our life, the third and final aspect is this one.

Desire.

We desire.

Psalm 40, verse 8 through 10.

Psalms 40:8–10

I delight, I desire, I delight to fulfill your word, my God, for your living words are written upon the pages of my heart.

I desire to do what you're saying, God.

I don't just discover it, I don't just do it out of behavioral habit, but I desire it.

So much deeper than discovering the voice of God and doing the things the Father invites us into is desiring to hear and know and respond to the voice of God in our life.

This this faith journey, it's not about conforming to an established list of obligations.

We can grow up, those of us that grew up in church, it's dangerous because we think that serving God or making him happy is what David said is not, like the sacrifices, the rituals.

That's actually not what makes God happy.

That's not relationship.

Moms, what's better?

When your kids obey what you ask them to do out of fine, because you said some mom, I'm gonna do it.

I'll clean my room, right?

What's or is this better?

When your kids desire to do the things that they know are gonna please you and resonate with you in terms of what's best for them.

That the second one, this way better, right, mamas?

Come on, get rowdy, mom, right?

Not just, not just for the twelfth time, clean your room, thumb! I'll clean it, right?

No, you come home after an amazingly difficult but beautifully productive day, and you walk in and the kitchen's pristine and the dishwasher's empty if you have one and everything's in its place, and the laundry's put away, you're like, what happened to my kids?

It's a miracle, right?

Isn't that way better than having to wrestle and fight and argue with?

What do you think pleases God more?

That he's like, forgive already! I told you, forgive.

It's beautiful that he stands at, but do it, no, no, the desire to walk in forgiveness as an ongoing pursuit, the desire to please the heart of God in a way that resonates with his revealed ways for what's best for us.

How many of you here would say that Jesus always desired to obey the voice of his Father?

Jesus came to planet Earth, he lived for 33 years, he walked a beautiful existence, he modeled what it means to live in sonship and the authority of being a kid of God.

How many of you think that he always desired to do God's will?

Interestingly enough, in Psalm 40, verse 8, the Psalm of David, where David's like, I delight to fulfill, I desire to accomplish your will, I want to do what you want me to do.

Psalms 40:8

We read the same words in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 7, but this time it's actually a reflection of Jesus' heart, where Jesus is like, God, I delight to fulfill your will.

Hebrews 10:7

Your words written on my heart.

And David's writing became a prophecy for Jesus, for our big brother.

Contrast that with Jesus' own words in Luke 22, where Jesus says this, Father, if it's possible, I don't want to do this.

Remove this from me if it's possible.

Nevertheless, not my will, God, but yours be done.

We see this moment where Jesus is on his knees weeping because of what's set before him.

And I think he's conflicted in this moment.

Jesus himself is like, God, I know what I gotta do.

I know what you're asking me to do.

I've discovered it.

You're asking me to do it, but I don't desire to do it.

There was nothing in the humanity of Jesus that wanted to be crucified at the hands of the Romans and carry the weight of the world on his spirit and on his soul.

And this is where it gets really important for us as we learn to desire the voice of God in our life.

Nevertheless, not what I want, God, but always what you want for me.

Nevertheless, the reason that God is speaking to you, the reason that a loving and up close and personal God speaks and longs for his kids to discover his voice and do what he says, but most importantly, desire to do what he says.

The reason is so that more and more of our lives move out of this duty, religious obligation column and over into the desire column.

To see each of us bit by bit, gradually over time, transforming into the image of Jesus.

Where we have moments of absolute surrender.

God, I know what you've spoken.

I know what I'm meant to do.

It's gonna be hard.

Nevertheless, not what I want, but what you want for me.

That's what I'm gonna, that's what I desire, God.

To discover his voice, to do what he asks, but out of a desire.

So in closing, this week, God is speaking to you.

His voice is not an on-demand response to our immediate needs, like Alexa or Siri.

Hey God, hey God, hey God.

His ways are clear, they're revealed, they're written down.

When we choose to walk in his ways, we find ourselves on the path of his concealed personal direction for us.

He's speaking today, right now, to you, through the influence of others, through your life situations, through the leading of Holy Spirit, and all of those things through the lens of his written word.

He wants more for us than just to discover his voice.

He wants us to do what he's asking and to desire to do what he's asking, whatever that is.

If you have a prayer life, if you pray, or if you don't, and you think this week would be a good time for you to start praying, incorporate this.

God, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

Nevertheless, I've heard that you're speaking, you're speaking still, so I desire to do what you're asking me to do.

In Jesus' name.

Amen?

Amen.

That's your homework.

Read through Psalm 40.

If you're uh if you're listening and you're in the room here today and and um you're married to somebody, I want to encourage you to have a conversation this week with a spouse about some of the things you know God's been speaking into your home, asking you to do.

You've been you've been remiss because you know it's you're gonna it's gonna be difficult, it's gonna be hard.

But the prayer is, God, nevertheless, I desire to do what you want me to do.

If you're a single person in the room, maybe you get together with some of your friends this week and just, hey, this is something that God's put on my heart.

This is what I'm working through, and this is what I've been sensing.

What do you think about that?

And do you think I'm crazy?

And God, would you give us the desire to not only hear your voice and do what it says, but but have that as our heart's cry, our desire, some homework for you.

Sound good?

Let's pray.

God, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here together today.

Thank you that um on this incredible day, on this Mother's Day, um, we get to take time to honor ladies in our world who are special to us and just celebrate all the moms in our life.

That we can easily make the parallel.

Those of us that parent, the moms in the room, even the dads in the room, we can make the connection as parents to wanting our kids to not just do what we ask because we're we're mom and dad, but to desire in relationship, in health, in family.

To desire to fulfill the things that they know.

Uh please, mom and dad.

Mom and dad have our those kids' best interests at my man.

It's the same with you, God.

It's the same with you.

Some of us here, we've been pushing in.

We want we want to know you so much clearer.

We want to hear your voice so much stronger in our life.

And others in the room here today, we've been we've been running, running, running.

Because we we don't believe that you're a good God and a close God and a personal God.

And wherever we're at today, Father, you speak still.

You speak, and you're speaking.

And your hope is that your voice would be heard in the context of relationship and closeness and proximity, so that it carries influence and carries your heart.

Because you love us so much.

And so as we've been learning and growing together, Father, over the last few weeks, about recognizing and understanding and hearing from you clearly.

As we bring this series to a close, God, I ask that each life here, moving forward, we live out each day with this nevertheless heart cry.

Father, nevertheless, not my personal will, but your will be done for me.

That we take our cue from Jesus as we seek to surrender every part of our life to your voice, to your leading.

We ask in Jesus' name.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit Evolvechurch.com.

We hope to see you soon!