John 10:27 – “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”  NKJV

My title is not an attempt to diminish the importance of hearing about God but to emphasize the importance of HEARING GOD.  I would never de-emphasize the value of education in all walks of life including the ministry but I would never desire to overemphasize the importance of formal education and ministerial training.  I have known some who have impressive credentials educationally who know about God but were seemingly very limited in the power of His person in their lives and ministries.

Jesus said in John 8:47, “He who is of God hears God’s words…”  Isaiah spoke of hearing God in 30:21 saying, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it’…”  Paul instructed Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  Therefore, the value of God’s word cannot be questioned in our lives and labors.

We know that the LORD instructed the disciples in the Gospels to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature…”  We also read in Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach unless they are sent?…”

I recall once hearing a group of ministers discuss a fellow pastor who had not been to Bible College or Seminary and some laughingly said, “He won’t last a year because he won’t have anything to say without proper training.”  He not only out lasted each of them in their respective works but the LORD used him to bring revival to the community so powerfully that the entire community developed an outreach to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, clothe the needy and care for people in the natural and spiritual.  He did not know Hermeneutics or Homiletics but when he spoke he spoke as one who had been in the Throne Room of God and His words were powerful reflections of God’s heart and love.  It could be said of him as was of the disciples by the Sanhedrin in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.  And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” 

I am thankful for my Bible training but more importantly I am thankful for a personal relationship with the LORD.  I am more interested in hearing God than I am just hearing about God.  I want to introduce and expose people to “Christ in me”.  Yes, we preach about God but our objective is to not have them simply hear ABOUT God but to HEAR God and thereby have their lives changed eternally.

Again, I am thankful for the education and training I have received, it has helped me avoid error more often than I can relate but it is secondary to my HEARING GOD.  May the LORD be with you as you go through this day He has made rejoicing and being glad in it!  BLESSINGS!

Addendum:

If you have ever experienced a tornado you realize that hearing about one is vastly different than actually hearing one.  I grew up hearing how the cry of a panther sounded like the blood curdling scream of a woman in distress but one night standing in the middle of a field in the black of night near a creek I heard one.  No description I heard about compared to what I heard.  Jesus said, “If I stand at the door and knock (hearing required), I will come in to him…”  I know some believe that it is impossible to hear God and without splitting hairs over the audible voice of God let me declare that the voice of God to the heart is quite real and would be far more frequent in our lives if we tuned in to His station and tuned out the world from time to time!