Voice

2 Kings 2:15-18

15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 “Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.”
“No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.”
17 But they persisted until he was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?” 

Elijah is gone and Elisha takes his place. Now the followers of Elijah become the followers of Elisha. Even though the prophets witnessed Elijah's dramatic exit they ask permission to go and look for him. Perhaps he was dropped on a mountaintop somewhere! But Elisha knows better and advises them not to bother. They look anyway and discover that he is correct. Now the prophetic mantle has passed to Elisha. God has not left His people without direction or an avenue where His voice can be heard. God never leaves us without a way to hear from Him.

In 2012 we still have the voice of God in our ears. The problem is that we often choose not to listen. That isn't God's fault, it's ours. What I observe often in our culture is that God speaks and one of three things happen.

1. We actually listen and follow Him. That seems to be a rarity, but it happens in the lives of His people all the time.

2. We hear God's voice and put His wisdom up against our own. God's plans and ways are simply another option. We might follow, we might not.

3. We don't hear Him at all because we let His voice be drown out by everything / everyone else shouting in our ear.

Which scenario we play out each day is up to us.