Learning a New Language

“Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,”  Hebrews 3:7
I’m listening to the book “Whispers” by Mark Batterson.  It’s about hearing the voice of God.  He compares learning to hear from God like learning a new language.  He uses the analogy of Helen Keller,  who at 19 months old contracted an illness which caused her to go deaf and blind.  As a result of this,  she honed her sense of touch to such a degree she could listen to music by placing her hands on the radio, sensing the difference in instruments by the changing vibrations.  She learned to “hear” words by placing her hands on a persons’ larnyx and “feeling” the vibrations of the vocal cords.  She learned to communicate through sign language.  As a result she was the first deaf and blind person to receive a Bachelors of Art Degree.
Effectively, Helen Keller learned a new language to communicate and live in the world.  It was adapted to her circumstances, her life, her abilities.
When we hear from God, we are doing the same thing.  We are learning a new language. One specific to our relationship with God.  One geared to how we communicate with Him and how He communicates with us.
I think this is a fascinating perspective.  I had never thought of it like this.  I’ve heard many a sermons on “tuning” into God the same way we tune into a radio station.  I had never thought of it as learning a new language.
Yet when I think of different friends in my life and how they communicate with God, it truly is a unique and personal experience.  I have one friend who hears from God in her dreams.  I have another who feels it in her spirit, not necessarily in words.  I myself hear Him most through the scriptures.  When I’m not sure what to do, one will come to mind from somewhere deep in my cortex and I know it is the Lord speaking to me.
In the same way, we all communicate with Him differently.  I have some friends whose best God time is when they are on the commute to work.  Others it’s at bedtime.  For me, it’s first thing in the morning.  I love to close myself in my prayer closet, open my Bible and lose myself in Him.  Others prefer worship music and wide open spaces.
Each person is different, each unique.  It is like learning a new language.  One created for each of us.  One no one else knows.
Most important of all, the more we study our individual language.  The more we learn to talk to God through it.  The more sensitive we are to His whispers, the louder and clearer we will hear His voice.