Jesus tells us in the book of Matthew that ‘My sheep know my voice...” God would never require us to be responsible for something that we do not have capacity to fulfill. He would never require us to be responsible to recognize His voice if we were not already hard- wired to hear Him speak.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and as they were speaking, something they said— a phrase, a word—hit your spirit like a bolt of lightning? It’s like something they said suddenly carried more weight behind the words and it felt meaningful to you, even if you don’t fully understand why. God frequently speaks through people in various forms, whether it be a typical conversation, what the preacher is speaking on Sunday morning or even in seemingly non-prophetic statements spoken through people who can offend us.

Caiaphas was high-priest at the time of Jesus and was a strategic figure in plotting Jesus’ crucifixion. The Pharisees were frantic that they would lose their religious status and their nation as so many Jews were believing in Jesus. In the midst of this council, Caiaphas stands up and declares:

“You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’ He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation.”

John 11:49-51

What’s interesting here is that Caiaphas was not even trying to hear God. He literally was prophesying about what Jesus would do though neither he, nor those around him, knew it. He thought he was just making a persuasive statement. We must learn to recognize God speaking even through common or ‘non-prophetic’ statements. Maturity in hearing increases when you can hear God speaking to you even if the source it’s coming from is offensive.