Learning to Hear God’s Voice

Isaiah 55:1-13

Jim Davis

Have you ever had an inner voice to inquire of you, “There is something missing in all I am doing--Surely there is more to life than what I am experiencing?” The voice may come to you in the wee hours of the morning when sleep is evading you. It may come to you upon retirement as you begin to wonder what you are going to do with the rest of your life now that you have more time than money. The voice may speak to you as you are in the midst of dealing with the problems of raising a family, or marriage problems. It may be a voice that comes to you in the midst of your success. The nagging voice insists something is missing in your life—there is something more to life. You hunger and thirst for something more fulfilling.

We might be reluctant to recognize this inner voice as the voice of God, but that is exactly what it is. God designed us so that this little voice goes off inside of us when our lives are not centered upon him. A.W. Tozer said: “Thirsty hearts are those whose longing have been wakened by the touch of God within them.” God works in our hearts to get us to desire his purpose for our lives.

Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. NIV

The voice can only be silenced by allowing God’s purposes to fill the desire he has created in our hearts. We try to silence the voice God by seeking to work out our salvation without God. We try becoming more dutiful, more obedient, more faithful, more fruitful, more righteous, or engage in more external activity. We redouble our efforts to render more Christian service. We attend more meetings. Yet, the voice returns relentlessly proclaiming “Listen to me—there is something missing in all of this.” 

Nothing matters more than knowing God's purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them--not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. 
   
Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. In the Bible, many different people expressed this hopelessness. 

Isaiah complained, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing” (Isaiah 49:4, NIV). 

Job said, “My life drags by--day after hopeless day” (Job 7:6, LB) and “I give up; I am tired of living. Leave me alone. My life makes no sense” (Job 7:16, TEV). 

The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose.

The Hunger and Thirst for God is Real

Isaiah asked God’s people, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2 NIV). They were engaging in a futile search for a fulfilling life without God. Their efforts were spent on things that could not sustain their lives—they spent their money on bread that wasn’t bread—it did not satisfy their hunger. The voice of God reminded them there was more to life.

There is another intriguing verse in Isaiah 55, and it is verse 13. The context of all these verses is that Israel has forsaken God. Their lives thirst for the real thing. God comes to Israel promising what will happen if they return to him. Isaiah pleads for their return saying, “Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow” (Isaiah 55:13). However, it is evident that the thorn bush and the briers are the result of not seeking God. They were designed by God to make the Israelites uncomfortable without him. God designed them for this purpose immediately after the Fall. They make us earn our living by the sweat of the brow. They seek to bring us to depend upon God.

Genesis 3:17-19
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'

"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it 
all the days of your life. 
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field. 
19 By the sweat of your brow 
you will eat your food 
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are 
and to dust you will return." NIV

Thorns and briers are designed to thwart our self-devised purposes in life. They bring disappointment and drench our selfish hopes and dreams. When this happens we begin to hear the voice of God saying “There is more to life than this.”

The eagles that live in the canyons of Colorado use a special kind of stick with which to build their nests. A female eagle will sometimes fly as many as two hundred miles in a single day in order to find a branch from an ironwood tree. Not only are the ironwood sticks as strong as their name suggests, they have thorns that allow the branches to lock together so that the nest can set securely on the ledge high up on the canyon. After building the nest, the eagle pads it with layer upon layer of leaves, feathers and grass to protect future offspring from the sharp thorns of ironwood.

In her preparations, the female eagle goes to great lengths to promote the survival of the birds she will hatch. The interest in their survival extends well beyond their birth, although the expression of that interest changes. As the young eagles grow, they begin to fight for space. Their demands for food eventually become such that the mother eagle cannot feed them what they need. She instinctively knows that in order to survive, her brood is going to have to leave the nest.

To encourage the young eagles to fend for themselves, the mother pulls the padding out of the nest so the thorns of the ironwood will prick the birds. As their living conditions become more painful, they are forced to climb up on the edge of the nest. The mother eagle coaxes them off the edge. As they begin to plummet to the bottom of the canyon, they wildly flap their wings to brake their fall, and end up doing what is the most natural thing in the world for an eagle—they fly!

The thorn bushes and briers were accomplishing the same thing for the Israelites and for each of us. When our lives are not going in the direction they need to grow the thorns and briers prod us into longing for the change that needs to take place. We are reluctant to leave our comfort zones, we may seek to tolerate the discomfort, and we may seek to silence the voice of God. But our circumstances will only become more prickly and painful. The voice of God always returns reminding us there is more to life.

If you are afraid to climb out of your discomfort, you must realize that God doesn’t just want you to survive and endure life he wants you to soar like an eagle. God doesn’t want us to settle for less than what we are capable. We need to climb out to the edge of the nest and slip off the edge and soar like eagles. Until we do that inner voice will continue to haunt us. 

Isaiah 40:30-31
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall; 
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. NIV

The Challenge of Refocusing our Lives

God has a plan for each of us he desires to activate in our life. If we have been saved, his plan wasn’t completed when we were initially saved. His lifelong plan for each life is revealed in his word. God’s desires to complete his redeeming work in us (Philippians 1:6). One hundred percent of our sins were forgiven when Christ died on the cross. God’s plan for redeeming your life is a plan he is seeking to work out moment by moment on a daily basis. Salvation is certainly rooted in what Christ did on the cross, but it is about how God is continually seeking to redeem our lives from right where we are this morning. 

Our world needs redeeming. Every life here needs to experience God’s ongoing work of redemption. Our world is a thirsty hungry uncomfortable world. We fill our calendars with activities. We work overtime to pay for all the activities. We run from mall to mall to quench the thirst and kill the hunger pains. We spend our lives and money on junk food while our souls cry out for manna from heaven—the Bread of Life.

The Israelites were seeking fulfillment without God. They sought to create gods’s to fulfill themselves.

Isaiah 46:6-7
6 Some pour out gold from their bags 
and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god,
and they bow down and worship it. 
7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it;
they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
From that spot it cannot move.
Though one cries out to it, it does not answer;
it cannot save him from his troubles. NIV

We may think how crude to carve out idols to bow down to, yet it is a common practice in our materialistic world. We spend our money buying things to recreate our own image in the eyes of others. We look to things we buy to enhance a feeling of our self-worth. The cars we buy, the clothes we wear, the places we eat, etc. We strive to make ourselves feel good about self without God. We look to our materialistic gods for fulfillment.

We even use religion to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. The religious people of Jesus’ day confronted him with the standards they believed made them acceptable to God. They sought their self-righteousness. They stressed external observances as they argued that duty and service was what really mattered. Jesus told them they were dead wrong. In fact, Jesus said, “These people . . . honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8-11). 

Solomon says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The heart is the fountain from which the issues of life flow. The heart is deceitful above all things. It is absolutely essential that our hearts focus on God’s direction for our lives. When our hearts are not focused on God we hear the voice of God reminding us something is missing. 

It is essential that we focus our hearts on God through his word, for only God can quench the thirst and fill the hunger of the heart he created us with. When we come up thirsty we must drink deeply of God. The psalmist said, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Psalms 42:1 NIV). Isaiah admonishes thirsty souls to listen to God. 

Isaiah 55:1-3
"Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk 
without money and without cost. 
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 
3 Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live. NIV

Wonderful things happen when God becomes the desire of our hearts. In the midst of Israel’s thirst God admonishes them to listen to Him and enjoy the richest fare. Isaiah admonishes us to give God our ears that our souls may prosper. In Isaiah chapter 26 the prophet seeks to portray what will happen when God becomes the desire of their hearts. Listen to what God says to those who are living in rebellion to him. Isaiah is speaking of what will happen if only they would return to God.

Isaiah 26:1
26:1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: NIV

Isaiah 26:8
8 Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, 
we wait for you;
your name and renown 
are the desire of our hearts. NIV

Hearts hungering for God will be filled with the fullness of God. 

Ephesians 3:14-19
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

It is God’s Spirit at work in our hearts seeking to lead us to be filled with the fullness of God. When you start thinking, “Surely there is more in life?” you need to begin listening to God’s Spirit, which is already at work in you. When God’s powerful Spirit begins his work God’s unimaginable plan for our lives begins to be unfolded.

Ephesians 3:20-21
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. NIV

God has such a wonderful plan for your life; it is beyond your comprehension. Isaiah was seeking to convince Israel of God’s unimaginable plan for their lives.

Isaiah 55:6-11
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near. 
7 Let the wicked forsake his way 
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
 
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways 
and my thoughts than your thoughts. 
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth 
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower 
and bread for the eater, 
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire 
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 

These verses are about what God can do for you when you can’t do for yourself. You may not be able to see your way clear, but all God asks you to do is to forsake your evil ways and be pardoned. His plan and ways for us are far above anything we can even imagine. You may not understand how he can remove the thorn bushes and briers, but God is capable of making your life more fruitful than you can imagine. He can begin to bless your life in the midst of reaping the consequences of your bad decisions. 

Isaiah 55:12-13
12 You will go out in joy 
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed." NIV

We need to listen to God’s plan for our personal life revealed in his word. The Bible is treated like a piece of historical literature and we fail to understand that it is living and active. Isaiah compares God’s word to the rain and snow that waters and nourishes the seed we plant furnishing us with bread to eat. 

Isaiah 55:10-11
10 As the rain and the snow 
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it 
without watering the earth 
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire 
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. NIV

The Word of God will achieve God’s purpose in your life. It is just as productive today as it has ever been.

Hebrews 4:12-16
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. NIV

The word of God is designed to make the issues of our hearts as transparent to us as they are to God. It lays bare the issues of the heart to enable us to approach God in boldness to seek his gracious help when we are thirsty and hungry. We must bring the issues of our hearts to God to seek his purposes. Then and only then will our thirst begin to be quenched.

Conclusion:

The Bible is not a dead letter. It lives and is activated by the powerful Spirit of the living God as he moves us to live out God’s word. New houses are being built across the street. Each house has a set of blueprints. Contractors and sub-contractors are following those blueprints daily to accomplish the over all plan revealed in the blue prints. They have a box they keep the blueprints in. Each contractor goes to that set of blue prints to carry a specific task. Like wise all the heavenly beings are busy searching our hearts and God’s mind as they seek to fulfill his purposes for each of us. The angels are but our ministering servants as they busy themselves with serving the needs of those of us are being saved.

Isaiah chapter 55 deals with what God wishes to do for those he wishes to pardon. His plans for our lives are higher than anything we can imagine. His ways are certainly not our ways, but his ways are much better than our ways. God enters our lives disappointing our hopes, thwarting our purposes, smashes our dreams, removes our property, or our friends. He leads us in paths we had not intended to follow. He secures our happiness contrary to all desires and plans.

It only makes good sense that we should form our plans in submission to the higher purposes of God.

We should resign ourselves to follow him when he thwarts our plans and takes away our worldly comfort.

Why spend your efforts and money for bread that doesn’t satisfy your soul’s hunger for God. 

John 6:48-51
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."  NIV

Bible Study Questions

1.	Where do you turn or to whom do you turn when your heart begins inquiring that surely there is more to life than what you are experiencing?
2.	How does God work in us to will and act according to his good purpose? (Philippians 2:12-13.)
3.	Can anything compensate for not knowing God’s purposes for your life? (Isaiah 49:4; Job 7:6, 16).
4.	Why is so much effort and money spent on things that do not satisfy our thirst and hunger?
5.	What happens when fail to seek God’s purposes in our lives? (Genesis 3:17-19.)
6.	How is the eagle preparing a nest for her young comparable to what God is doing to us when our lives are ill motivated?
7.	How would you describe God’s ongoing plan of redemption for each of us?
8.	What are some signs that our world needs redeeming?
9.	How do we miss the point when we use religion to make us feel better about ourselves?
10.	How does God’s word fit into God’s purposes for our lives? 
11.	What does it mean that God’s word is living and active?  (Hebrews 4:12.)
12.	What happens when God becomes the desire of our hearts?
13.	How would compare God’s plan for your life with your plans for your life? (Isaiah 55:8,9; Ephesians 3:14-19.)
14.