When I was growing up, my parents taught me to listen for the still small voice, the Holy Spirit, guiding me to the right choices, decisions, etc.  As I walked with the Lord and grew in maturity in my relationship with Him, I did learn to recognize when God was speaking to me, convicting me, and guiding me.  It is a sweet thing when you learn to listen for the voice of God.

Somewhere along the way though, life gets busy and the noise of this world can drown out the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit.  We can rush from one life event to another, from one conflict to the next, from our lattè to our cappuccino,  without a thought of pausing to listen.

As a child of God, we have the Holy Spirit living in us and He does indeed communicate with us, guide us and lead us.  He does not have an audible voice, and He is also not some imaginary feeling that we may feel from time to time.  He is very real and His leading and convicting of us is very real.

If we are walking closely with the Lord and spending time in His word, we are much more likely to hear and understand what He is saying to us.  When His statues and promises are freshly in our mind and heart, we are less likely to twist what He is saying into our own version of leading.  But what about those times when the voice we are hearing is not His at all… You know what I mean, the times when the only voice we really listen to is our own.  We can get so caught up in listening to our own voice that we miss God’s voice altogether.  It is not that He isn’t convicting and prompting, we’re just too busy listening to our own thoughts and opinions.  And what a mess we make of things.

If we are walking with the Lord and in His word, in a strange sort of twist, we can talk to ourselves and speak truth because His truth is freshly in our heart.  Talking to ourselves rather than listening to ourselves…it sounds like the same thing but the two are altogether different. When we listen to our own thoughts, they are mostly self-focused, self-serving, and void of any truth.  When we talk to ourselves, we can be intentional about speaking truth from God’s word into our mind and heart.

Not long ago I was doing mental battle within my spirit on several issues.  The Lord was gently prompting me with His truth, but I was too busy listening to the lies my own sinful heart was telling me.  He continued prompting…the truth was there…but would I hear it?  During a visit with someone, the Lord guided my words to encourage them in a difficult time.  The words He gave me to share with them were the exact words He had been prompting me with in my own heart….but I was too busy listening to my own voice.  When I finally stopped to listen to His voice, my own struggles suddenly became clear. Immediately I had freedom in my spirit because of His truths.  Why, why do I make it so hard on myself!

We must be intentional about speaking truth to our own heart, and we can only do that if we are listening to His Voice!  Do you hear His voice right now or are you only hearing your own voice?  Please, dear friend, look closely at your own heart and prayerfully consider what voice you are listening to right now.  There is true freedom in Christ when we listen and follow the truths of His word.  The worst thing we can do is to follow our heart, which is what our modern culture tells us to do every day!  Our hearts are sinful and will only ever lead us astray.  We will only be truly at peace when our life and world is God-defined and God-centered, and that is a daily journey.

In Isaiah 30:21 God tells us:  “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”

Make sure the voice you are hearing is the voice of God.

Blessings friend ~