The Sound of His Voice

I love the sound of his voice

There is one voice I listen for more than any other. It belongs to the man I’ve been married to for almost 37 years. I recognize it anywhere I am; it gives me confidence and comfort. I welcome knowing he is home at the end of the day. There is nothing I like to do better than spend time with him. Even on days when I am upset or angry with this man, I want to be with my man. There are days I don’t want to hear what he has to say, and we agree to give each other space until we can sort out our differences. Even when I am frustrated, I still want to hear his voice because I know how deeply he loves me.

A garden without sin

I think that’s how Adam and Eve felt in the garden God created as their home before the fall. Adam was created outside the garden and then placed in the garden to tend it. In that garden, God put Adam to sleep and created Eve from the rib He took out of Adam’s side. This garden became their home.

We don’t know for certain how often God visited them and spoke with them. We can assume, however, that it happened because, after the fall, they recognized the sound of His presence.

An unwanted voice

Genesis tells us after their sin, their eyes were opened and they saw they were naked. Adam and Eve took fig leaves and tried to cover themselves. Before their sin, their nakedness did not bother them. After the fall, they tried to cover themselves.

In the very next verse, Scripture tells us that God came down to their garden. It says they “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the cool of the day . . . and hid themselves from [His Presence] among the trees of the garden.”

When we have sinned, when we are wrong, we don’t want to hear the voice of God. We don’t want to hear what He has to say, because it means we have to do something about it. Dealing with our own sin is never pleasant nor easy.

God knew what happened. He always knows! When we belong to Him, the Spirit comes to convict us and show us where we are wrong. In this instance in the garden, the LORD God came. Only, this time, He wasn’t welcome. Adam and Eve hid from Him.

God asked Adam, “Where are you?”

Adam’s reply tells all.

“I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Adam didn’t want to hear from God; he did not want to see Him because Adam knew he sinned. When Adam heard the voice of God, he hid. He was afraid because of his sin.

When we don’t want to hear what God has to say, it’s a sign that there is sin in the camp. Get rid of the sin and you will want to hear His voice.

The sound of His voice is sweet

Intimacy is defined as the following: closeness, attachment, togetherness, warmth, understanding, comradeship, affection, and companionship. Every one of those words describes what Adam and Eve experienced with God before the serpent. Intimacy is what they lost because of their sin.

God moved toward them. He came to find them, because He knew exactly where they were hiding all along! The return to intimacy happened when they confessed their sin and chose to return to following Him.

It’s the same with us. We lose intimacy with Christ when we walk away from Him. We regain that intimacy when we confess our wrong and live in harmony and fellowship with Him.

In that intimacy, we experience oneness in Him. Our marriages ought to experience the same kind of intimacy. When the voice of your spouse is truly sweet to you, then you have true intimacy.

When the sound of God’s voice is sweet to us, that is when we know we experience true intimacy with Him. When you hear His voice, do you want to run and hide? When He speaks, is the sound of His voice sweet to you?