Genesis 3:8-10

King James Version

8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

This passage from Genesis describes a direct and understandable conversation between man and God.

Verse 8 tells us that Adam and Eve heard God’s voice as He walked in the garden in the cool of the day. The casual tone suggests that this was a regular occurrence, indicating that God often walked and talked with them.

In their earliest state, humans enjoyed open and unrestricted communication with God. If you’re wondering what changed, the scriptures provide an explanation:

Isaiah 59:1-2

King James Version

1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

The text literally says “look! the Lord’s hand is not shortened or heavy, but it is because we have been separated from God”. First of all, this passage is often interpreted to mean that our sins prevent God from speaking to us. However, the context shows the opposite: God is actually taking the first step to communicate with the Israelites through the prophet Isaiah. God made sure His message was clear and understandable.

Throughout the scriptures, we see instances where God spoke to sinners and non-believers. Let’s look at one of the earliest recorded conversations between man and God.

Genesis 4:9-10

New King James Version

9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.

In this text, we see one of the clearest examples of God’s willingness to communicate with us despite the presence of sin. The conversation between God and Cain occurred right after Cain committed a terrible crime- murder. However, despite Cain’s sin, God was the first to reach out and speak to him.

Let’s examine another example from the book of Genesis:

Genesis 41:25

New King James Version

25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do:

In this story, Joseph was brought before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to interpret his dream. Joseph explained to Pharaoh that God had revealed to him what was about to happen. In this unusual dream, God informed Pharaoh, an unbeliever, about an impending famine that would affect the entire world.

Another example of God’s willingness to communicate with man can be found in this text:

Daniel 2:29

New King James Version

29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.

Here again, like the scripture before this, a pagan king receives a dream from God about the kingdoms that would rule the world for centuries to come. How interesting is it that a lot of believers go all their lives never even hearing a simple yes or no from God concerning a decision to be made, meanwhile unbelievers are able to receive dreams that accurately portray the destiny of the world and millennia to come. Don’t you think that is an interesting phenomena ?

But all of those texts were shared to help you understand that God is more willing to lead you than you are willing to be led. If He is willing enough to speak to unbelievers, murderers, and pagan kings how much more you a believer who has been gifted with His Spirit?

Because just as we learnt yesterday, the very salvation we have in Christ was by a leading from the death into life in God. You were led at salvation and God has never stopped leading you neither is He planning to stop anytime soon. But another question worth investigating is, “Are you willing to be led”?

Acts 10:9-16

New King James Version

9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.

10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance

11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth.

12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.

13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”

15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”

16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

This passage is a really good example showing how God is willing to lead us even more than we are willing to be led. The text tells us that God gave a vision not once or twice but again on the third time and still had Cornelius’ messengers waiting at the door before Peter gave in to the leading that would cause the salvation of Cornelius and his household.

God is persistent. Like Peter, we might be hesitant to follow His leadings. But because of the importance of His plan, He keeps on speaking and leading hoping that we will finally catch up.

Most times, a lot of believers say that they want to be led meanwhile in reality, they ignore every instruction, voice or nudge given to them by the Lord.

God is willing to speak to you and He is definitely not afraid of speaking loud or clearly enough for you to hear Him. Maybe the reason why it seems as though He isn’t is because you have blatantly ignored everything He has said in the past and everything He still is saying to you today.

So, seeing as we have been shown from scriptures myriads examples of God’s willingness to speak to different people who ordinarily one might have exempted from the list of people God can speak to, this should help you to realize that God is more willing to lead you like Peter even more than you are willing to heed to His leading. He never stopped trying and in fact, this very devotional is another one of His attempts at helping you bring this fact to reality in your life.

Prayer Point:

Lord God, your word today flood the eyes of my understanding with light and I am reminded that God is more willing to lead me than I am willing to be led.