Hearing God

Do you ever question yourself when you hear from God? Do you ask yourself was that God's voice or just my own? I know I do at times. Why is it we do this, am I questioning God’s ability to speak or my ability to hear? I believe a majority of the time I question my ability not Gods. I know and believe He speaks to me but there are times where I ask myself if I am hearing His voice. In a world full of distractions, it is easy to drown out the voice of God. I find myself asking questions like this: “Did I really hear that? Is this what God said or is this my own voice in my head talking?” When I read back over these questions, I cannot help but think back to the story of the garden in Genesis when Eve is looking at the tree God told her not to eat from and the serpent is asking her “Did God really say ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3) The enemy is trying to trip her up here because the serpent is trying to twist what God said and deceive her. She replies and corrects the serpent and tells him we can eat from any of them just not the tree in the middle or we will die. The serpent continues to twist God's words until she falls into the Devils trap and eats from it. I believe the enemy still likes using this line today, “Did God really say…?” If the enemy can get us to question what God has said, then that will only lead us to question all that He has taught us. This is a dangerous place to be, when we start to doubt all that God has said, it opens the door for the enemy to creep in and try to deceive us, this is how the enemy tricked Adam and Eve into eating from the tree. The enemy had her question if God really said what He did, and did she really hear correctly. To me, it also sounds like the serpent was trying to get Eve to question herself and her ability to hear God. The enemy still uses this tactic to trick us into thinking that we are not able to hear from God and trust what He said is true. Do not allow those thoughts to creep into your mind, the enemy wants us to question God and ourselves.

At times I believe our doubt in ourselves is what is holding us back. Not because we are capable, but because through God and His Spirit we are capable of hearing His voice. So, we shouldn’t be relying on our own ability to hear God, we have to have faith in Christ and believe that He is always speaking to us if we only take the time to listen. Do not let the distractions of this world keep you from hearing God. In this culture, it is so easy to distract ourselves from God and hearing His voice. We have one of the biggest distractions in our hands, in one click of a button, we can push aside our problems and ignore what is happening in our lives by scrolling through everyone else's life. Let’s not allow the world and others to distract us from what is most important in our lives. Our relationship with God is so important as believers, I don’t want to let my circumstances around me be what controls my life. I want God to be in control, I want His voice to be what guides me, and I want His best for my life, and not what I think is better.

Something I do when I believe I have heard from God is to ask Him to confirm it somehow, not because I do not believe He is speaking but because I at times I doubt my ability to hear His voice clearly. It can be hard to discern God’s voice from others. I want what is better for my life, but God knows what is best, so I do not want to live a better life, but rather God’s best life for me. My voice may be telling me what I think is good, but I want to live my life based on what God says is best for my life.

 It is important to learn how to discern the voice of God. When we practice being still and hearing from God it is easier to discern His voice, our own, others, and the enemy. We come to recognize His voice when we hear it and know it is God speaking. "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." (John 10:4)  To know God's voice, we have to practice listening for it and discerning whether or not it is Him speaking. The Holy Spirit is what helps us discern the voice of God and the voice of anything else. God's voice is always still and small, so it is important to be quiet before Him to hear it. He is never the one screaming and shouting our name. God speaks with tenderness and love for us. Renewing our minds each and every day is a big part of allowing ourselves to hear from God. It prepares our hearts and minds to be still and know the voice of God. God is always speaking to us, we just need to train ourselves to take the time to block out the world around us and be still in the presence of God. He will always speak to us in His Word when we read it. Ask yourself this: What voice am I living by? Am I walking in God's best for my life or what I think is better? Our trust should be in God, He knows all that is to come, He knows the struggles we will face and the Joy we will experience. He knows the mountains we will climb and the valleys we will walk through, but through all of it, He is always with us no matter what.

 "Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my words." (Isaiah 28:23)