Kairos – Hearing God’s Voice Through Scripture Series

When we lived in Michigan I woke up early in the morning and found myself in that place between wakefulness and dreams. I heard these babies crying and realized that I don't have babies anymore. They were grown up. What I heard was 2 cats fighting on the fence… Sounded like babies crying.

I tried shouting out the window but as cats do, they just ignored me and went back to screaming at each other. I tried throwing a milk jug, which also did nothing. In desperation, I began running in the yard chasing the cats.

And then there was this moment of clarity. When I realized that I’m now running around in my yard, in my underwear, at 3 o’clock in the morning and I have no idea where the clothesline is.

Have you ever had one of those experiences when you are in the middle of something dramatic, comical or intense when you have a moment of clarity?

When I was in grade 3 we had this table of headphones that were plugged into a central station. The headphones were on a wire and the cord was plugged into a central hub. Each Jack had its own volume control. It was a pretty cool thing when I was a kid. The teacher would put on a record and a group of us would sit and listen with the headphones on, while another group of students did something else. The sound didn’t bother the other students. The problem was that my friend sitting next to me got his and my volume control mixed up. When he turned up the volume and didn’t hear any change he kept turning up the volume. Needless to say, I had to yell over the top of the volume in my head because I couldn’t hear my own voice. I couldn’t hear my own voice because of the noise in my ears.

There are lots of times in our life when we’re not paying attention. There are times when we have a moment of clarity.

There are noises that drown out the voice of God. These noises keep us from hearing God and paying attention when he’s trying to speak. I think that God wants to get our attention but often times the noise in our ears is so loud that we can’t hear his voice.

If you’re like me, you have your fair share of problems. Maybe your problem-solving technique is just as ineffective as mine. Is it possible that what we perceive to be relational, emotional and spiritual problems are actually hearing problems? Do we have ears that are deaf to the voice of God?

Learning how to hear the voice of God is the solution to a thousand problems! It’s also the key to discovering our destiny and fulfilling our potential.

God’s voice is love, power, healing, wisdom, and joy!

Central Idea: Are you paying attention to those moments (Kairos) when God is trying to get your attention?

“Kairos” is the Greek word for “a moment in time.” We’re more familiar with the term Chronos which means successive or sequential time, the kind of time you find on your wristwatch.

God wants to break through the moments of our lives, so we can experience a growth process. Throughout this series were going to be looking at how God speaks to us. The first and primary way is the Bible. It is the first and final word of God. Everything we hear from God must be consistent with what the bible teaches. But God also speaks to us through the circumstances of our life, through promptings and pain. He also speaks to us through our desires and other people.

Maybe the rhythm and timing of your life is off because you have been listening to the voice in your head or the voice of the devil which is condemnation and lies. If we don’t silence those competing voices and pay attention to when God speaks, we will miss out on when God is trying to get our attention. Maybe you just don’t know which voice is which?

If God truly wants to speak to us, then maybe our problem is not that he isn’t speaking but rather we’re not paying attention or we don’t recognize his voice.

Many of us have a hard time listening and paying attention when God speaks.

1 Samuel 3:1-7 The Lord Speaks to Samuel

Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed.3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle[a] near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”