God said that he didn’t speak in riddles and visions with Moses, but he spoke with him plainly, face to face (Num. 12:8). David sat before the Lord (2 Sam. 7:18) and talked with him plainly.

What happens when we encounter God? What happens when we are, like the Hebrew expresses it, “before his face”? 

He is totally other than what we expected. We are always aware of his complete “other-ness.” He is infinitely beyond our imagination. Upsetting for some, he is also totally beyond our management. How did your life change when you ran head-on into this extra-ordinary God? Life changes. The Scripture tells us about how we react when we encounter God.

Everything we have in the Christian life is a gift from our Lord Jesus. We can’t achieve it; we must receive it. In prayer we learn that. Prayer is the laboratory in which we learn to take the theological truths of Scripture and apply them to life. We receive gifts through the Cross and Resurrection that provide us a new position from which to pray. We pray from this new position purchased for us by His sacrifice at Calvary. In prayer we learn to appropriate the gifts of the Lord Jesus. Here's what I mean . . .

The international president of the company arrives for an inspection and asks the production manager, “How many shoes have we produced so far?”

“None,” the manager answers matter of factly.

“None!” the president is shocked. “How long has this plant been in operation?”

“Two years.”

“Two years? And still no shoes?”

“That’s right,” says the manager, “no shoes, but we are really busy. In fact, we have been so busy that we are nearly all tired out. We don’t have any shoes yet, but we have been very active in our jobs.”

What do you think the management would do in such a case? Have coronaries? Become angry? Be concerned? Fire somebody? Find the problem and fix it? Probably all these things, because the reason for this shoe plant’s existence is to produce shoes.

Now let’s think about the church. There is a lot of activity. Men and women are here working very hard. The budget shows a lot of money invested into a lot of ministries. The church is very active. But the purpose of the church is to produce disciples.

When the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association goes into a city to do an evangelistic outreach, they make numerous calls to church to get the names of men and women who know their Bibles well enough to lead someone to Christ. In one large city, when the caller got the church secretary on the phone and asked her for such a person, she replied, “Would you repeat those qualifications again, please?” The man from BGEA did.

After a long pause, the secretary said rather wistfully, “You know, we did have a man like that in church once, but he moved away.” Jesus himself said, “the harvest is plentiful but he workers are few (Matt. 9:37). If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that the same is true today. Spiritually qualified workers – disciples who labor to make other disciples – are rare.[1] Instead, most churches are really busy, but they are not producing any disciples, any leaders – and they just keep on going.

Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God says that God is still speaking in this day and age through the pages of Scripture, and Scripture says the same thing. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). An audible voice? Not likely. But in your heart that still small voice is there when the Holy Spirit is present through a vital, growing relationship with Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:19; Matt. 10:20).

Elijah heard God speak in a whisper (1 Kings 19:11-13). Young Samuel heard God calling him in the night, and he answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Sam 3:10). Isaiah heard God ask, “Whom shall I send?” (Isaiah 6:8), and Isaiah answered, “Here am I. Send me!”

But you don’t have to listen to God. You can ignore him. “God does speak, now one way, now another – though man may not perceive it.” (Job 33:14). Without a listening heart anchored in a relationship with Jesus, God’s speaking might not sound like anything unusual to you (John 12:28-29). Here are some surefire ways to stop hearing from God and shipwreck yourself.

Yet he didn’t send us alone along the way. He promised, “And lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). He assures us that His providence and presence go before us.

Have you ever been in a fix and did not know the way out? Have you needed wisdom and skills for dealing with a huge challenge ahead of you? Has it seemed like God was not listening, as if He had better things to do with His time?

Be encouraged. God sees you and hears you. He can renew your intimacy with Him. He can draw you close to Himself. (He was not the one who moved, by the way!) Start by taking your eyes off the problem and raise them to the Lord. Pray the Scripture. Praise Him for his loving care for you. Call on Him who his your rock, your mercy, your holiness, your grace, your justice, your strength, your shield from danger, your help, your faithfulness, your protection, your calm and loving Shepherd. Try Psalm 28 on for size.