From the first pages of Scripture to the last, our Lord reveals himself as God who speaks. He speaks when he will, to whom he chooses. It is his way.

Henry Blackaby has observed that, when God spoke in Scripture, “those He spoke to knew it was God, and they knew what He was saying.”*

“The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me’” (Gen. 16:7-8, 13-14).

Paul said, “Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me” (Acts 22:6-9 NKJV).

“It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before” (Heb. 11:7 NLT).

“See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?” (Heb. 12:25).

These stories describe works God did in another era. But more, they reveal our Lord as God who speaks. He still speaks today. When he speaks to you, you can know it is him, and you can know what he is saying. It is his way.

See to it that you do not reject Him or refuse to listen to and heed Him Who is speaking [to you now]. (Heb. 12:25 AMPC)

Wherever he finds you, whatever he says, be blessed to respond like Noah, Hagar and Paul.

*The Blackaby quotation is from Experiencing God, by Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King (Nashville: LifeWay Press, 1990), 73.

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Again and again, the “God who …” phrases in Scripture reveal God’s works. As we respond to our Lord deep within, receiving what he communicates Spirit-to-spirit, those phrases also reveal his ways.