For God does speak—now one way, now another—though man
may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when
deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, he may
speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man
from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul
from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.
—Job 33:14–18
God speaks to people through his Holy Spirit. He speaks through dreams and songs and answered and unanswered prayers. He shows signs, and he has provided His authoritative Word through His Holy Scriptures. God speaks through our gifts whether it is teaching, preaching, praying, singing, painting, or any one of the many other spiritual gifts.
But in order to be used by God, we need to relinquish our obsessive focus on self and open our hearts to the truth and power of the Holy Spirit. This is the promise that Jesus gave directly to His disciples and to all who believe: “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:25–26). “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26–27).
To many, the way the Holy Spirit speaks is a great mystery, but to those who believe, it is the truth that transforms life itself.
—Eric Kampmann, Signposts