THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: Which Voice Do You Listen To??
Since time immemorial, God has been in the habit
of sending voices (messengers) to speak to his people on earth. Whenever there
was a problem, a baby would be born and sent forth as a special messenger to
stand in the gap. Never did God come down himself to solve people’s problems. That
would be undermining his divinity and throne of grace. His methodology, in his
infinite wisdom, is that of sending fellow human beings to solve humanity’s
problems!
You ought to understand that, to a greater extent,
your level of success is directly related to the voice that you listen to! Take
for instance, the case of Noah and the Ark (Genesis 5 to 9). God had instructed
Noah to build the Ark because he wanted to destroy the earth. The earth had
become a serious breeding ground for evil deeds. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” –
Genesis 6:5. The instruction was simple: Noah build the Ark and take with you other
animal species in there. And as God would destroy the earth with floods, the
only people and animal species to survive were those in the ark! If anyone was
found in the ark, they would live (and vice versa)! That was the voice; that
was the instruction!
The survival of the people and animal species in
the ark had nothing to do with their intelligence, wisdom, physical built,
swimming capabilities or good-looking features. They survived because they
listened to the voice of God through Noah. Literally speaking, there could have
been other beautiful animals that were meant to be in the ark but they refused
Noah’s voice of instruction. As a result, they died and became extinct. But the
baboon, though it is said to be ‘ugly’ in today’s world (sic); it survived
another day because it listened to the voice of the man of God.
In Numbers 21, we see the Israelites being bitten
by snakes and dying en masse as a punishment for having sinned and spoken evil
against God. Their prayer was now for God to take away the serpents from them. In
verse 8, Moses receives a clear instruction from God on how to manage the dire
situation: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make
a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is
bitten, when he looks at it, shall live’”. In verse 9, Moses does exactly as God
instructed him to do. Everyone who looked at the bronze fiery serpent on the
pole survived the bites; but those who did not follow the voice of instruction
died!
Even in the latter biblical times; we see Jesus
Christ, as he began his ministry on earth, meeting with Simon Peter at the Lake
of Gennesaret. After teaching multitudes seated and using the boat of Simon
Peter as his pulpit; at the end of the teaching Jesus then gave Simon Peter an
instruction to “launch out into the deep
and let down your nets for a catch” – Luke 5:4. Simon Peter did not see much sense in the words of Jesus; but his
greatest weapon was obedience to the voice of instruction. “But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night
and caught nothing; nevertheless at your
word I will let down the net’. And when they had done this, they caught a
great number of fish, and their net was breaking” – Luke 5:5-6. Simple! Listen
to the voice of instruction over your life and things could change for the
better!
Even nowadays, God continues to send different
voices for different assignments on earth. There are many genuine servants of
God who have spoken God’s instructions in this world; these include Oral
Roberts, Smith Wigglesworth, John Calvin, John Wesley, Ezekiel Guti, Myles
Munroe, Benson Idahosa, Asa Gurupira, TD Jakes, Tudor Bismark, Mike Okonkwo,
Mensa Otabil, Dag Heward-Mills, Kenneth Haggin, Kathryn Kuhlman and Bartholomew
Manjoro. You have to be cognisant of the voice that God has sent in your life. Mine
is Bishop Apostle P. Sibiya (www.pridesibiya.com);
the founder, president and presiding bishop of Glory Ministries (www.glorymin.net). He has spoken many
instructions over my life and things have come to pass! I honour and respect
the voice that God sent over my life. You ought to do the same.
In conclusion; even though there are many
dissenting voices in this world, you have to be careful not to follow heresy-driven
voices. The simple yardstick to measure the same is the Holy Bible. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but
test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have
gone out into the world” – 1 John 4:1. The Bible gives you the priviledge
to test every spirit! If you do not agree with a certain voice, just move away
from it and find a genuine and convincing voice in accordance with God’s word. The
Holy Spirit will help you do that.
Be blessed; and please have a voice that you
listen to!!
Tapiwa Zuze
