Hearing God’s Voice
One of the greatest gifts God has given me is faith and optimism without naivety.
I’m optimistic because I know how this ends, and I believe in God. I believe in His Word and the fact that we are headed somewhere. The opposition, darkness, and discouragement that we face come from the enemy. It's all coming from a broken world, but it's going to be redeemed.
It helps to know that there's a reason we don't feel good. If you can figure out that reason, then you could take the necessary steps to get better. For us, the Bible is a giant story of why we're stuck. It's an explanation for all the challenges we face. Despite these challenges, there's hope in that story. God tells us that He has a plan for us to thrive and prosper.
The main way to prosperity, as demonstrated throughout both Testaments, is to walk with God. God tells us to leave our sins, burdens, and whatever else is weighing us down to follow Him. That is the story of God. But we've made it complicated.
Why We Might Not be Hearing God’s Voice
We've built whole systems of discipleship and ideals around what it means to follow God.
Our version of following God has conditions and limitations attached to it. It’s linked to political affiliations and job titles. However, we cannot detach from it unless we simplify it all down to what scripture has been clear about. Jesus came to earth as an example and a means of our salvation. He came as a friend who wants to walk with us through our days.
The spirit is our helper, but we’ve complicated Christian life way past that. It’s no longer about walking with God and keeping nearer to Him. We don't stay near His word because we get bored or discouraged when it feels like we're failing. And so, we ended up building a very complicated system of what it means to be Christian. Most of us are exhausted by it.
Our Relationship With God
We need to talk about the voice of God and hearing from the Spirit when it comes to our identity. No one is going to shape your identity more than God if you let him. If you walk with Him and stay in relationship with Him, His goal is actually to rub off on you. It’s to help you and cause you to want more of God and less of this world.
Most of us either have a healthy, unconditional relationship with God or we’re afraid of Him.
In the first relationship, God is so close to you that you’re not bothered. You just want a relationship with Him, even at your messiest times. You want to do whatever He says because you love Him.
When your faith is based on fear, you don't know God well. You’re afraid to tell Him things because you’re scared that He’ll be mad at you. If you were honest with yourself, you would admit that you don't love praying or reading your Bible. You’d realize that you don't really want to obey God or submit all your burdens to Him. You don't want to submit to Him because you don’t feel safe with Him. Hence. a healthy relationship with God is important.
The relationship you have with God will change and define everything about you. Because we have lived in a system where God has been this judge that is waiting to scold us, we feel distant from him. However, God is not a shaming or scolding parent. He's actually so thrilled that you're with him.
The Power of Trust-Informed Listening
My certainty in the voice of God is informed by the complete trust I place in Him.
No matter how badly you mess up, God will always love you. So, hearing His voice begins with this trust and knowledge that He loves you in every state. It begins with expressing the need to be with Him and talk to Him.
I don’t pray out of obligation. I just talk to God all the time in my heart. This is how I move through life. He is my best friend, and He is constantly there for me. Honestly, I like Him so much, and I know that He likes me. God is my safest place, and I never feel like I'm a big disappointment to Him. I think I'm his very favorite.
I say this because part of the overflow in my life is based not on the things I have done. It is based on this living, breathing, organic relationship that I have with God.
So, how do you hear His voice? And how do you have a relationship with Him?
I often know what I'm supposed to do after I ask Him because I trust Him.
He can control me if I'm surrendered and want to walk with Him. He can control me if I want to please Him. I read His Word to know what He thinks. I trust that He’ll show me the answer when I ask Him what He wants me to know.
When I know what to do, I trust that it’s from God. I’m aware most of my thoughts would be way more selfish than the ones God gives me. And so, I trust him in everything I do. I trust that the insight I have after a prayer is from God. He's leading, shepherding, and guiding me.
The greatest way that God speaks to us is through His word. That’s how we hear from Him – it's the clearest, most obvious way.
God’s Word as His Voice
If your relationship with God is thriving, then you'll want to know what He thinks, says, and wants for you. That will inform that still voice and clarity you have inside. I wouldn't know if something was from God unless I knew the Scripture so well. I know when something doesn't sound like God because I know His Word.
Because I know scripture, I can see when I sin. Hearing from God is walking with Him, knowing His Word, asking Him what He thinks, and letting Him lead you. And it’s so fun! 95% of my life would be different without Him leading me.
I hope this inspires you to want God. I hope that my relationship with God makes you want one of your own. I hope you want to figure out where God became this unsafe being in your life rather than the safest place in the world.
It is so safe with God because He is the only one with the power to forgive your sins. He has the power to restore your soul and mend the broken pieces. It's the safest place to be because it's the best hospital, counseling office, and friend you've been craving.
Time with Him is better than any other part of the day if you see Him as scripture describes Him. Jesus was the clearest picture of God on earth, and to see him was to see the Father. We know what God is like because we got to see Jesus live on Earth.
Jesus is the friend you have always craved.
He is the smile you would be looking for in a room because He isn't worried about the messes in your life. He is more interested in talking, being, knowing, helping, freeing, serving, empowering, and releasing. That's who He is, and as you go with Him over time, that relationship will grow.
