Chris Lewis Blog

It wrote about hearing from God in this post earlier.  Yesterday, I covered the first point…today, I will tackle #2.

Sometimes, the harder I strain to hear, the more difficult it is to distinguish between the voices in my head.

That’s right!  I have voices in my head.  Many have wondered for some time…it is now official…I have full blown conversation (even arguments) with myself, about me, and with me listening.  While it is a very cheap form of entertainment, spiritually speaking, it is less than productive.

Here’s a little more about what I mean by that statement:

1. God’s voice is not usually the loudest – If God is telling me to put the brakes on, He usually screams through circumstances or something else.  When he’s stirring something in my heart, his is rarely uttered above a “whisper”.  Trying to focus is not bad…as long as God’s voice does not get drowned out by other noise.
2. My voice tends to be louder than his – Of course he could out-shout me…but that’s not really ever been God’s style.  When I talk to myself…I always have my attention…and I AM LOUD!  The longer I debate an issue, once I think I’ve heard something from God…the more I tend to listen to myself.
3. Circumstances and emotion influence my voice – Once I start dwelling on a direction I fell God is urging me to go, I look at all the practical reasons it won’t make sense.  God always intend for us to consider the cost, but to see miraculous works requires dangerous faith.
4. I listen to other people’s voices – This is a tough one.  God expects us to seek godly council.  I listen to the advice of others regularly.  My goal is to never allow another persons voice or opinion to carry more weight than God’s.  There is a time for seeking and listening to others…but other people will never see a faith step God is asking for in your life the way you will – never.

This is counter intuitive.  Usually, we focus and listen intently when we are trying to hear something specific.  That’s really what we’re going for in this example…we just want to make sure we’re not listening to the wrong things.

Again, my experience has been confirm with what I posted yesterday and watch out for today’s.  For me, the longer I roll something around…the more succeptible I become to listening to my own voice or someone else…instead of God!

I mentioned two things in this post about hearing from God.  I am going to unpack the first statement I made today.

When I think I have heard from God, I usually have.

This is my experience.  It does not have to be yours.  But I have found when I think God has been saying something to me, regardless of how many “fleeces” or checkpoints I create in my own mind, I will end up…most of the time…right back where I started.

Of course there are exceptions to this…because I am fallen and redeemed by God’s grace. Yet I am still quite capable of infusing my own selfish desires into the mix…and even worse…blaming God for it!

So…here’s some indicators I use to weigh the situation:

1. I know what His voice sounds like – I am a child of God.  Just like my children know what my voice sounds like, I can recognize his voice…because I have heard it before.
2. I rarely agree with it (at first) – Hence the reason He is speaking to me…DUH! He is speaking to me to get me to do something I would not naturally do myself.  If I sense God’s tugging and I immediately say “God, that’s a GREAT idea!” I am automatically suspicious.
3. It often requires some level of persecution – It always makes me laugh to hear people say, “The safest place to be is inside the will of God”…not because it’s not true…but because they usually mean “If you’re obedient to God, He won’t let anything bad happen to you”.Can I just say that is total CRAP! The Bible says all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Paul and Silas were fully obedient when they went to Macedonia.  Where was the first place they ended up? Jail.  I have learned though that I would rather be in the jail God put me in than the place I choose for myself!
4. It comes in the normal course of following Him where I am – God speaks most clearly to me when I am already being obedient to what I know he wants me to do.  Whether revealed in His word or something specific He wants from me, God speaks to me from a position of obedience.Don’t get me wrong, He will get my attention when I am disobedient…but then there is no question where that’s coming from.  Disobedience hinders communication with God.

This is what goes on for me.  I use these as some common ways to identify God is speaking to me.  Tomorrow, I will share about point 2: sometimes, the harder I strain to hear, the more difficult it is to distinguish between the voices in my head.