I “think” God is asking me to do something NEW… And no I can’t tell you what it is. Infact I’ve only told one other person… (thank you ‘person’ for listening, praying and just being there for me – you know who you are) 
So here’s the thing; here’s the million dollar question: How do I know FOR SURE that God is asking me to do this NEW thing? How do I know FOR SURE that I haven’t just made this idea up in my head? How do I know FOR SURE…
What is crazy, is that only less than six months ago my Small Group did a study called: Discerning the Voice of God: How to Recognize When God Speaks (by Priscilla Shirer). It was a GREAT study. I learned a lot. I would highly recommended it for any Women’s Small Group (it’s primarily a woman based study, since the book is written in that tone). Note: link above is to the “study book” – Priscilla also wrote a full length book with the same title.
So since I just recently did this study and learned new things, why am I questioning whether I am hearing God’s voice at this point about this specific task (verses my own ideas rolling through my head)?
That is simple: because it’s a little scary, it takes me out of my comfort zone, it will cause sacrifice on other ‘God Honoring’ things I already have on my plate, and I don’t have the knowledge to see the task to the end… so the task might never be completed, and it will also use up more of my “creativity tokens” (see post called Jars of Flour and Oil about the “tokens”).
Ironically, if God told me “Go to Starbucks and buy a $5 gift card and leave it on a strangers windshield” I’d do it in a heart beat. I don’t think I’d question if it were God’s voice; and I’d be happy to be a quick and obedient child. It would be an easily doable task and takes little effort.
In the study mentioned above, a question was posed that required the reader to rank their responses with the following four choices (of course I had to add a fifth choice, which ranked as #1 for me). The question is:
What is your response to God, when it’s something you don’t want to hear?
~ Ignore: act like I never heard it
~ Consider: weigh my options
~ Obey: follow His directions regardless of how I feel
~ Keep Praying: Hope God will change His response
~ Doubt: wonder if what I think I heard was really God (my added item)
I’m sure I’m not the only one with these types of questions, especially when there are so many books devoted to the topic. So, I’m asking for input and comments. How do you know when God has asked something of you? How do you know it is God’s voice and not your own?
UPDATE: I finished writing this post earilier in the day. Then at lunchtime I read the story about Gideon in Judges 6:15-23, 36-40 <–check it out real quick. See, Gideon wasn’t very sure that some instructions he received were from God. So he set up a series of things, specific signs, that he wanted from God that would serve as proof that the instruction really was from God. Amazingly, graciously, God made all the signs happen. Well…. after reading the story, something just hit me square in the middle of my head. I haven’t seen “my hummingbird” in nearly 30 days. Infact I had grown accustom to learning to have increased faith and not need the reassuring presence of a hummingbird when I have doubt. But guess what happened today?!? As I drove out the driveway, guess who was up in that tree?? Yeah, it was the hummingbird…I didn’t realize the possible correlation of my new/current doubt and the reappearance of the hummingbird, till just now… Crazy!
…but like Gideon, I still would like one more specific sign…
PS: don’t forget, I’d love your comments on how YOU know it’s God’s voice….
I don’t know when I hear Gods voice. That is hard. I don’t know if I have ever heard God. Can’t wait to see other comments and the next post
My input:
~~When it’s in line with scripture (nothing in the Bible against it)
~~When it’s waaaaay bigger than we think we can handle!
~~When trusted advisors validate it
~~When circumstances are amenable
~~And it doesn’t go away!! (no matter how hard you try to make it go away!!)
If these seem to be a “go,” then it’s time to take that step of faith and trust God for the outcome! Gulp!
As I understand it, God’s voice is never just something in our heads. Remember that God’s word has already been given to us in a complete form (Scripture). So, if we perceive that God is telling us to do something that does not line up with scripture, we are not hearing God. This is good advice for those that say, “God told me to blow up an abortion clinic”, because it does not line up with the “do not murder” aspects of God. But when it comes to, “Should I buy the red car or blue car?” I think we can lean more on the idea that God will give you the desires of your heart (Ps 37:4-5). So if you’re stuck between all good stuff that lines up with God’s Word, just prayerfully choose and get on with it. But doubt, that’s a whole other thing. Doubt is missing a portion of trust and leads to insecurity and eventually ineffectiveness. What’s at risk with this decision and I mean at risk in your spiritual walk? There is always security at risk, material stuff, positions and power, but if that were our focus, there would never be a Mother Teresa, right? Most of the time, but not all the time, doubt is our own response to what we already know God wants us to do. It’s the fear you get as a child the first time off the high dive platform. You know you’ll be okay, but there is an invisible force stopping you. Or the fear that paralyzes a child who is scared in bed, they know nothing is really there, but they can’t move and just sit motionless in fear. Remember what God said to Jacob in Genesis: “What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go.” Maybe it’s time…