“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me and what answer I will give to this complaint.” Habakkuk 2:1-2
God speaks to us in a myriad of ways. He can talk to us through angels, visions, his words, or dreams. While I've heard God's voice many times, I've only heard it in a dream once. One night, I was having a weird dream that made no sense. At the end, I heard an audible voice in my right ear say, “transitional pastor,” and then I opened my eyes.
It's significant because we've been waiting to hear from the Lord about my husband's new ministry. He felt led into transitional ministry, but not many opportunities came his way at first. After I heard from God in the dream, I told him what I had heard. I asked him if he had looked more seriously into transitional pastoral ministry opportunities. After that dream, he looked harder, and after a time, he received his first assignment.
If it were not for that dream, we still would have been unsure about the Lord's future for us. As someone who struggles with anxiety, I am someone who wants to know what the plan is before I take a step of faith. However, that's not always how God works. Sometimes, he wants us to take a leap of faith before he speaks to us about exactly what the assignment will be. We needed to take a step of faith and trust that God would lead my husband in that direction in his time.
Although I struggled with anxiety, I had tremendous peace as we waited for God's voice. This is unlike me, as I would have worried about not having enough money or not making ends meet. However, the dream solidified what we knew in our hearts. Because we had heard from God, we could wait patiently and trust that God would reveal the assignment in his due time, and he did.
God can give us tremendous peace when we hear his voice. However, we must be able to listen to him. The above verse tells us that prophets also needed to wait to hear from the Lord. The word “station” in the above verse tells us that Habbakuk had to place himself in that position and wait patiently until the Lord revealed his voice in his time.
In the same way, we had to wait patiently until the Lord chose to speak through a dream. Habakkuk had to station himself at the ramparts, waiting for God's voice. Although it is unknown whether Habakkuk grew impatient with waiting on the Lord, we know that for those who wait patiently for him, God is faithful to speak if we are positioned to listen.
Are you positioned to hear from the Lord? Do you carve out time and make space for God to speak in your life? Do you allow distractions of life to crowd out your ability to hear from God?
If we want to hear from God, we must trust that he will reveal his voice when he is ready. We must also make space and trust that God will speak in his time. When he does, we must trust that we have heard accordingly and be obedient to whatever we hear. Because God does not usually speak to me in dreams, I may have questioned whether that dream was from me or the Lord. Because what I was dreaming had nothing to do with the words I heard in my ear, I was confident that he had revealed his truth to me.
Position yourself and make yourself ready to hear from God. Be in tune with the Word. Don’t just read it haphazardly. Read it and ask God to reveal any words or phrases that may pop out at you. Even if you've read the same verse more than once, ask God to speak to you precisely through the words you are reading now. Allow the Word of God to speak to not only your mind but also your heart. You may be surprised to hear what God has to say.
Let's pray:
Father, let us be people who position ourselves to hear from you. Let us trust that you will reveal your words in your timing. Let us be obedient to what we hear and take steps in faith. Amen.
Photo Credit: ©Diana Simumpande/Unsplash
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If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
Originally published Monday, 10 March 2025.
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