Hello brother John,
Zachary my grandson and I were sitting here talking and he had a few questions that has stirred in his heart about God. We started watching some utube gospel videos, as we did when he received the holy ghost about a year ago, and I thought about taking him to your web page to hear some music. We found the youth page, and he wanted to ask you a couple of questions. Here they are. He is 9 years old.
#1 Why does God not talk to me? I have been asking him to and have not heard from him yet.
#2 Is God really coming soon like some people say and are the earthquakes a sign of him coming.
K. E.
SMILE!!!
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Hello Zachary.
As for your first question, God speaks in many ways. David said he heard God speak through the stars at night (Ps. 19). And in the book called Proverbs, we are taught that we can receive wisdom from God by watching the way little ants work (Prov. 6:6-8). Jesus told us to take time to consider nature (Mt. 6:26-30), and he said this because God talks to us through the things that he has made. The clouds teach us about His glory, and the rain and sunshine teach us about His goodness.
God also talks to us through the feelings that He gives to us. This is especially true if you have His Spirit on the inside of you. Jesus said that the Spirit will guide us into all truth, and many, many times, this the Spirit does this by our feelings. When we do a good thing, the Spirit will make us feel good. And if we do something that is not good, the Spirit will make us feel bad. Those feelings are God talking to us on the inside, letting us know what is right and what is wrong.
You probably are wanting God to talk to you the way you speak to other people, in the plain English language, and God does do that. Many times, His voice is very still and gentle, and we have to be very still in our souls to hear Him. But sometimes, God speaks a little more forcefully to people. And then there are times when chooses to speak to certain people very clearly. Those people are special to God. Never do anything to harm them.
One time, long ago, Moses’ brother and sister said some bad things about him. God was very upset about that, and He scolded Moses’ brother and sister. One thing God said to them, was something like this: “If somebody is a prophet, I will speak to him through dreams and symbols, but Moses is more than a prophet. I talk to him face to face!” In other words, God was telling those two people that Moses was special to Him and that Moses should be special to them, too.
Maybe one day God will choose to speak to you, Zachary. He spoke like that to a little boy named Samuel (1Sam. 3), and to another little boy named Jeremiah (Jer. 1). If he does ever speak to you like that, do exactly as he says. Leave nothing out, and add nothing to His words. They are perfect. In the meantime, listen for God’s voice in your feelings, in nature, and in the testimonies of God’s people. His is talking to us all the time by some means.
As for your second question, Jesus is not coming again any time soon. You will be a grown man before he comes back, and you may even be an old man. In fact, you may go to your grave before the Lord Jesus returns. So, don’t be alarmed by those who say Jesus may return at any moment. They are mistaken. So, you have time to grow and learn what the will of God for you in this life is. Isn’t that good news?
As for earthquakes, they will continue to increase and grow worse as time passes. But they things are just “the beginning of sorrows” for this evil world, according to Jesus (Mt. 24:7-8), and Jesus knows about these things.
Thank you, Zachary, for your questions. Be a good boy, and don;t follow others in school who do bad things.
your friend,
Pastor John
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Dear John,
I love that little Zachary has questions about God talking to him! It reminded me so much of Jonathan a couple of years ago asking why God didn’t talk to him. He was really wanting to hear from God. Those questions led Jonathan to the place of wanting to make things right in his heart with God and doing the things that made Him happy, and it led Jonathan to repentance and God baptising him with the holy Ghost. Those innocent little hearts long to learn about Him and hear from Him. No wonder He and Jesus love the little children. I love your simple and tenderhearted answer to Zachary. That was right from the Father’s heart to him.
Love,
Bess
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Hi Bess,
In the Bible, during those times when an older generation had disobeyed God and ruined things in Israel, God would by-pass the elders and speak to little children. He would raise up children as prophets, such as Samuel and Jeremiah, and would raise up children to be kings, such as Josiah. Then he would use those children to turn the nation around.
We need God to speak, to heal, to cleanse. If the elders among His people refuse to hear Him, then let’s pray that He will again speak to some young people and set them on fire for Him!
jdc