Discerning the Voice of God

As a Christian, one of the most essential pieces in making decisions comes in knowing what God thinks. 

But unfortunately, God's voice isn't the only voice speaking. Whether it's a thought, a feeling, a word of knowledge or prophetic word given from someone else, or something someone says to you in passing, it's important to be able to gauge what is and isn't the Lord's voice, so as to walk toward truth and life, and away from lies and destruction that the enemy seeks to lead us astray with.

Queue the inspirational music.

1. It’s based on the Bible if it’s God, and he’ll reveal it as you’re obedient to read it.

God may speak to each of us in different ways, but his word is the foundation (John 1:1). So if God is speaking, there’s a scripture on it that reveals his heart, or even similar situations happening in scripture at times. You may also discern Him leading you in a certain direction or decision while you’re just reading your Bible and spending time with Him. 

A good pointer for actively stewarding your obedience to this principle is to:

- Make time to read you bible daily, and get on a devotional plan for reading the bible all the way through with study guide help

- In times of need or sticky situations, describe your situations or main key points in a google search engine with the first words being "Scripture on..." For instance, you would Google "Scripture on family drama" or "Scripture on being rejected." This way, you will begin learning from the Bible what the heart of God is, while you're still making your way through reading the Bible in it's entirety. (Ps., when you finish reading it through, just keep doing that for the rest of your life.. haha... no, seriously..)

2. It’s not a feeling, but simply a knowing that He is speaking. 

The word says God's sheep heart His voice. Meaning, it is God's will for you to hear from Him. God's leading is not determined by feelings, but a knowing. That knowing may be a Conviction about what is right or wrong ( John 16:9-11) or simply a reassurance that God is speaking.

3. A "check" in your spirit, not rooted in fear.

That “check” in your spirit is probably the Holy Spirit nudging, if that “check” is not coinciding with fear. When God speaks it shouldn’t bear the fruit of fear, because perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Intimidation about what to do next is a real thing, and should lead you into deeper dependence and trust in the Holy spirit int hose moments. However, thoughts that derive from fear are thoughts that destroy us and lead us to poor decision making as we give them our attention.

4. It doesn’t require your full understanding.

If you don’t understand the end result of where God is leading, at least determine that He’s speaking. John 16:13 says “but when the spirit of truth comes [Holy Spirit], he will guide you into all truth.” Therefore when God leads us, we may not understand at first (See John 13:7).

The scripture says that the righteous live by faith (Romans 1:17). What's more important than being certain of the end result or what to do next, is determining that God is indeed speaking, and then choosing to trust God wholeheartedly. Determine He's speaking, and surrender your need to know anything else.

The Enemies Voice

We also have an adversary, the Devil, who roams the earth like a prowling lion seeking who he can devour. Scripture tells us to take up our sword (the word of God) and our shield (of faith), plus other weapons and protective gear for a reason. That reason is that we are at war. So I thought it would be fitting to also give you some brief pointers that help identify when a situation, word, or thought is absolutely not from God. This way, if you cannot discern easily with the list given above, you can check to make sure this isn't the enemy.

1. It doesn't build you up.

Even pruning builds us, and refinement purifies and brings us into a deeper awareness of who God is. That burning, cutting, and healthy pain from God doesn't always feel good, but we can often see how it's working for our good. I.e, your friend told you that you have a problem with gossip and that they've lost trust in you. It hurts you, and essentially the friendship feels ruined in your eyes. Albeit painful, it also taught you not to gossip and to carefully protect the confidence of your friends. This is an example of pain that builds up.

If a word or situation doesn't grow you and leave you with MORE PEACE, MORE FREEDOM, and more UNDERSTANDING by the end of it, then it's not God. God's hand in our life always bears the fruits of the spirit when we are yielded to His correction.

2. It produces confusion.

If you've spent any time in the Body of Christ closely connected to community, you've probably experienced the daunting truth that even the most respected christians can get it wrong sometimes. Whether it's a prophetic word, a thought of your own, a dream, or just an act on someone's part, if it produces confusion, it's probably not God. "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.." 1 Corinthians 14:33.

Don't mix confusion up with "uncertainty" or "lack of understanding." In this point, I'm referring to the confusion that contradicts other words from God, "checks," and what you've already clearly heard from the Lord.

3. It's condemning, judgmental, and makes you feel worthless.

The scripture says that "God gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him won't perish, but have everlasting life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17) The same God that sent His son, who was fully God and fully man (a part of Himself), to be beaten into the night and then die on the cross for the sins of the world, is not interested in making people feel worthless and terrible, even about the sin condition that we struggle with from time to time. "It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance." (Romans 2:4) What's more, God is described as our strength in our weakness (Psalm 37:39, 2 Cor. 12:9).

Love is described biblically as having these characteristics:

Patience, kindness, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not selfish, not easily angered, Keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, and rejoices in truth.

And the Bible says that God is love.

So if it goes against any of these attributes, kick it to the curb girl.

I've created this table as a resource to help you gauge the voice of God from the enemies. Feel free to share it on an insta story or Facebook post, pin it, and most of all, memorize it!

In the same way that with selective hearing you can almost entirely drown out another person's voice, The more you practice recognizing the voice of the Holy Spirit in your life, the stronger the gift will get, and the quieter the enemies voice will become. I believe memorizing this chart will help to give you that selective hearing that begins to drown out every voice except for God's.

Yay to making faith-filled, life- giving decisions!!

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