Is that your god?

Did you hear that? Was it God?

This is a common question and let me start out by saying, I’ve never had a time in my life when I’ve heard an audible voice from God. However, I’ve had many times in my life, when I have had God speak to me. What’s the difference? Glad you asked

As we have been talking about in our Discipleship class, the very first step to hearing the Lord....is to actually spend time with Him. He is not going to text us, or Facebook friend us, or pick up the phone (although He may use others...more on that later). We must, as Christians, experience God on a daily basis. Jesus, many times in Scripture, had slipped away to spend time with His Father. He did it regularly, even though the work He was doing on earth, was very important. He still found time!

Second, when you hear the Lord, you need to dive into scripture. If you feel the Lord is telling you to sell your house, move to Zimbabwe, and become a missionary, then what does the Bible say. There is a lot there about this topic in Scripture and going in Faith, so ok, we have some scripture to support. An important note here though, make sure you are reading scripture in context, which is vital. I can do all things in Christ....as called to do by Christ...but I won’t be going to the moon (as an example). Contrast that to a message from the Lord where He is calling me to sell my house, buy a yacht and sail around the world for the rest of my life. Not a lot of scripture to support that.

Ok, so you heard God, you found scripture, so what’s left? Seek counsel from a brother or sister in Christ. Let them know what you feel the Lord is telling you, the scripture you found to support and you want to know what they think about it. Not surprisingly, we all can hear God lay out a goal for us, but it takes others to deliver the path for us to get there. Let’s say you hear the Lord tell you to move to Zimbabwe, but your wife is 8 months pregnant with your 5th child. Maybe the Lord is preparing you for the mission field, but your brother tells you that perhaps the Lord is saying prepare, not go this moment.

Paul asked for prayer regularly, and when you think about Paul’s connection to Christ, it is vital for us to follow this path as well. We are called to experience the Lord, spend time in Scripture and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Through this, we can find what the Lord is calling us to, and be assured it is in fact the Lord calling us and not our own voice...and our own desires....

What is your go to Scripture when you are trying to discern what the Lord has set in front of you?