God's voice

John 12:28b-30a Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”  The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; … Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.”

Jesus had just prayed in public that the Father would glorify His name through Jesus’ obedience to His calling (vv.27-28a) and I can just imagine the thrilled heart of the Father God responding in more than His still small voice to Jesus’ active obedience and submission.  God just could not stay silent as He saw the act of salvation that He had planned from the beginning continuing to move forward.  Although the people around Him heard nothing but a sound of thunder, Jesus heard the message, and gained strength from it.  The crowd was moved by just the might and awesomeness of the sound enough to recognize that something special had just happened.  I want to be able to hear God’s voice to my spirit and recognize it as more than just a sound, and as I grow closer to God, this is exactly what is happening!