In Romans 10 the Apostle Paul exhorts us to use our feet to go where people need to hear the gospel. He then asks this question: “Have they not heard?” You would think the answer would be “No” since Paul just told us these folks need a visit from a preacher.
Paradoxically, after telling us to put shoe leather on the ground and get out there and preach the gospel, Paul answers “Yes” to his question whether these people have heard. Meaning people that haven’t heard the gospel preached have already heard the gospel.
How can that be?
Paul quotes Psalm 19:4 to explain. The context of Psalm 19 is set by the first verse, which says “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands..” The “sound” of that declaration fills the earth constantly.
It is our responsibility to share the gospel. But God is always preaching the gospel through Creation. The sky and stars are always speaking, declaring the glory of God.
It is common to wonder if circumstances are God trying to tell us something. The reality is that God speaks to us constantly. He is speaking all around us.
The challenge is for us to hear. It is a human tendency to find what we look for and hear what we want to hear. When we wonder about circumstances, we aren’t usually seeking what we can learn. We are usually seeking what we want.
When we adopt a perspective that it is in our best interest to seek after God, know Him and His ways, we then want to hear what He has to say. This opens endless possibilities for ways to hear God. God is speaking all around us. If we seek, we will find.
“But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: ‘Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’”
– Romans 10:18