Have you ever heard someone say God spoke to them and told them a plan for their life? Have you ever felt like he speaks to everyone but you? God does have a voice and he speaks to those that draw near and are listening. He will call you by name and draw you near. Look at just one segment in the life of Abraham and Sarah that is given to us as an example.
Genesis 18:9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
So he said, “Here, in the tent.”
God calls for Sarah during a visit to Abraham. God was about to speak something that he wanted her to hear. He said to Abraham, "WHERE IS SARAH, YOUR WIFE!"
Once it was confirmed she was in hearing distance God began to speak. Did God know she was in hearing distance? Of course, but this was for her benefit and ours. Sometimes, we just need to put our ear toward his voice and listen to what he will say because prior to the fulfillment of his intention, he's going to speak. He will say, "Where are you?" He will draw you near. He knows right where you are but he wants you to come near to him to listen to what he has to way. He knows right where you are but he wants you to be sure that when the promise comes to pass, you can look back on the conversation. That not only confirms the reliability of his Word to you but it also teaches you that you do know how to hear him. Jesus said in the New Testament that his sheep hear his voice. God is able to speak to you in a way that you can hear him and he wants you to know this as well as he does.
"I WILL DO AS I HAVE PROMISED, I WILL DO AS I HAVE PROMISED", SAYS GOD!
Genesis 18: 10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”
Pastor Bass, a Tampa pastor first preached this that made an impact on me: Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him. This was the very first time Sarah had heard the promise of a child for herself. Up until that time, God had been speaking directly to Abraham. Sometimes it seems that people say, "God said," yet, we wonder why we aren't hearing him ourself. God has a voice and he wants us to hear it! Here, Sarah herself heard the promise with her own ears. The promise was no less a promise because she hadn't heard but now was the time she would hear for herself!
When God said he would certainly return, he actually said, I will return, return. In some languages when a verb is repeated twice it means it is being repeated with emphasis. For example, in Thai, if you say, "There is a boy, boy," you are actually saying there is more than one boy. They don't have plural so there is no language to say, "There are boys." If there was a group of boys, you might say, "There are boy, boy, boy," or "There is child, child," means a group of children.
The bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let a thing be established. The number two actually is double the number 1. Two means double. If a person has twins they are doubling the number of children they have. Anything multiplied by two, doubles the number. Two is the number for double and when God emphasized the word, return he was saying with double emphasis, I will return. The English translation into the word "certain" was just that, the English translation to say what was meant in the Hebrew, which was that the thing being spoken could not be changed. It was sure. It was established and could not be altered. Sarah was to have a child and God would return at the very time that child was due. This was being stated a few months before Sarah actually became pregnant and God wanted Sarah to hear this for herself. He also wanted her to know in advance because it would confirm the reliability of the Word God speaks in advance of a plan. Just as sure as God had spoken it, Sarah became pregnant with the promised child, Isaac and sure enough at the time spoken, God returned.
Genesis 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
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