I now possessed this excitement and feeling that I was finally on the right track. My efforts of seeking God to hear His voice was now producing results. My "ahha" moment brought a feeling of excitement which let me know I was headed in the right direction but it raised several questions. The feeling that would come when I decided to do something and then felt it wasn't going to work out was a familiar feeling. I actually listened to it more times than not, however, with this new found revelation I decided to now pay that feeling more attention than ever. But I still was not completely sure this was really "God." I decided I needed to explore this before I was completely convinced. But before I explain that sequence of events I must address one burning question that came with this revelation. Why was it only a feeling, how come I wasn't hearing words? 

The answer to this question did not come immediately. The Lord actually explained it in more detail after many years of hearing His voice. My struggle was as a child, I had always heard God's voice being described as a "still small voice." So all of this time I was looking for an audible voice, but what was now ringing bells inside of me, that this is God, was not a voice but a feeling. 

The idea that God's voice is a still small voice came from a story in 1 Kings. In this story Elijah the prophet had received word from Jezebel that she was going to kill him because he had just killed 400 of her prophets. Fear gripped Elijah and he ran for his life. He eventually hid in a cave where a series of events occurred. The story says in 1 Kings 19:9-13, that the Lord came and spoke to Elijah and then there was a strong wind, followed by an earth quake, followed by a fire and after the fire a still small voice. The scriptures says that the Lord was not in the wind, the earth quake or the fire, but when Elijah heard the still small voice he came and stood at the entrance of the cave.

The "still small voice" is only mentioned one time in the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. And a major point that tends to be over looked is the still small voice did not speak to Elijah. It says after the still small voice came, Elijah went and stood at the entrance of the cave and then a voice came and spoke to him. So the voice that engaged in conversation with Elijah was not a still small voice.

God is the Father of all creation. And no father would speak to their children in a still small voice. Fathers make sure their children hear them because their words are important. A father's words produces growth and maturity, it provides comfort, healing and safety. That can not be provided when a child can not hear or understand what is being said. And no child can be held responsible for what they did not hear or understand. God does not speak in a still small voice, He does not whisper to us. He speaks so that we can hear Him.Also consider the fact that Elijah was a prophet that prayed and caused a famine for several years. Elijah was seasoned in ministry and trained other prophets. We can not expect God to speak to us or deal with us the same way He dealt with Elijah.

God wants all of us to know Him, know His voice and follow after Him. Jesus said in John 10:27, "my sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me." So God will not speak to us in a way that is complicated beyond human reasoning. I believe what gives people the impression that the Lord's voice is still and small is because we tend to not notice when He speaks. I found when I quiet myself I can hear him better. But my inability to hear Him is because I'm either not paying attention or I'm too busy, not because He is speaking so soft that I have to strain to hear Him.

As I mentioned before, this experience raised many questions for me. One of which was why was the Lord speaking through my "feelings?" The Lord's explanation to this question fascinated me. And I will explain His answer in Part 4.