Is that You?
As believers, I think one of our most frequent concerns is hearing from God. Do I hear from Him at all? Why did He stop talking to me? Is that His voice or is that mine? Sometimes we get so consumed with questions about whether we hear Him or not that we end up drowning out His voice with all our own thoughts.
Just today I felt like I heard an instruction from the Father. It was an answer to something I had been praying about. Instead of being excited about Him answering me, my immediate thought was, “Is that You, Lord?” I in no way felt it was the enemy, so what I was really questioning was, “Is that me, Lord?” I’m sure we’ve all been there where we start to question if we came up with a thought on our own because it’s something we wanted to do.
So many of us who genuinely desire to always be in the Father’s will can face these types of situations from time to time, and many times more often than we’d like. The good news is I don’t do this nearly as much as I used to and even today the thought only lingered for a few seconds. It seems as if as soon as I let the negative thought go, a new thought came. It was a thought I’d never had before. Let me explain.
God’s Word tells us His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Our natural minds can’t even begin to wrap itself around all that God is, does or thinks. However, 1 Corinthians 2:16 does give us hope that we can have the mind of Christ. And just like a good Father would, He gives us plenty of instruction on what we need to do to help get our minds and our thinking more in line with His. Here are just a few examples:
Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Study [the Word of God] continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. (Joshua 1:8)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2)
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on you. (Isaiah 26:3)
We are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. (Hebrews 13:18b)
The integrity of the upright guides them. (Proverbs 11:3a)
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26)
We have to pray, study God’s Word, renew our mind, keep our mind stayed on Him, act honorably so we can have a clear conscious, walk in integrity, and most importantly trust the Holy Spirit that lives within us. If we are actively and consistently doing these things, at some point we have to trust that our decisions are lining up with God’s Word and His will. A step of faith is only really a step of faith when we have to move out on a decision and we’re not sure we’ve heard directly from the Father. If we had every single detail of our lives spelled out for us, we would never be required to take a step of faith. We would simply be robotically responding to commands rather than seeking an intimate relationship with Christ.
Just like you had to accept Christ by faith, you must trust that you hear and know His voice by faith. If you don’t feel like you can trust yourself, then trust God’s Word. He tells us in John 10 that His sheep know His voice and a stranger they will not follow. Remind yourself of that daily until you believe it. “Thank you, Lord, that I am Your sheep, I know your voice, and a stranger I will not follow.” Once your will begins to line up with His will and you refuse to follow the voice of the enemy, you can confidently move forward knowing the steps you are taking will lead you into your destiny.
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