Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. Isaiah 30:21
If you asked moms what happens in kids’ brains when they hear mom’s voice, the moms would probably respond: “They lose their hearing, that’s what happens!”
Scientists asked that question and they found something heartwarming: kids recognize their mothers’ voices in less than a second! This was true even when kids were listening to recordings of various female voices saying nonsense words. When some of the words were spoken by the child’s mother and others by another mother not related to the child, 97% of the time kids knew exactly which voice was mom’s.[1] Children know mom’s voice because they’ve been listening to that voice since before birth.[2]
So, mom’s voice we’re clear on, but what about God’s voice? Can we hear the voice of God? As in, can we understand what He has to say to us, what direction He has for us, how He feels about us? The Bible says, “Yes!” Scripture speaks to people who are seeking to hear from and follow God, saying, “Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).
When we regularly take in scripture, we’re tuning our ears to “hear” God’s voice. We start recognizing what He’s like, how He feels about us, what’s important to Him. We see how He works in people’s lives. The longer we’re practicing this active “listening,” the clearer His voice becomes. He says His voice is right behind you. Can’t hear that voice? Tune in today by taking in some of His words found in scripture.
[1] Alice Park, “What Happens in Kids’ Brains When They Hear Mom’s Voice,” Time, May 16, 2016, https://time.com/4328353/kids-brains-moms-voice/.
[2] Anna M. Babel, “The Mother of Communication,” Psychology Today, May 11, 2025, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/language-in-the-wild/202505/the-mother-of-communication.
