FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…
SIGNS GOD IS SPEAKING TO YOU (AND YOU’RE MISSING IT)
At a recent Leadership meeting at Forge the subject of “knowing God is speaking to you” came up. Have you ever felt like God just seems silent, always? If you’re like me, you’ve had countless times in your life when you desperately wanted God to speak to you, but you were met every time with a deafening silence. And I wouldn’t be surprised if, like me, you’ve had moments of frustration that challenged your very faith.
Once, when my frustration and desperation boiled over, I straight-up demanded God give me a burning bush moment (seriously, I did! And of course, He didn’t). But mostly I just waited around, stewing, and tapping my proverbial foot, impatient for an answer.
Maybe you’re in the same place, right now. Praying for clear direction – a vision, dream, or word – so you can know exactly what to do. And waiting, waiting, waiting for an answer that doesn’t come. Unfortunately, you may wait forever because God often doesn’t respond the way you want or expect. So, you miss Him altogether, then wrongly think He doesn’t care, and worse, is ignoring you.
Or, perhaps, God is trying to get your attention, but you keep missing the ways He’s speaking to you. So, let’s talk about some signs that God is speaking to you right now. First however, a couple of things everyone should understand:
- God always hears your prayers! This promise is all over the Bible, so own it.
- God never ignores your prayers! You are His beloved son and daughter, and He never ignores His children.
So, if God always hears and answers your prayers, why aren’t you hearing Him in return? Well, perhaps it is because we don’t recognize how God speaks to us. Below are six ways I believe God is speaking to you and me…
HIS WORD
One of the simplest ways God speaks to us is through His word. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). A sign that God is speaking to you is when you recognize the same type of verses or theme keeps coming up repeatedly. Has that ever happened to you?
A few years ago, the idea of remaining steadfast in my faith kept slapping me in the face. At the time, I was struggling with a family member who was suffering deeply and as I fell into total helplessness, my faith began running away from me quickly. As an answer, God suddenly (at least sudden to me) began sending me, repeatedly, scripture after scripture after scripture about steadfastness. Verses like:
- 1 Corinthians 15:58.
- 2 Peter 3:17-18.
- Hebrews 12:1.
- Matthew 24:45-47.
- 1 Peter 4:19.
- 2 Peter 3:14.
- Deuteronomy 7:9.
- Matthew 25:21.
AUDIBLY
Before you discount God speaking to you audibly, remember that Jesus spoke audibly and directly to Saul on the Damascus Road, so he can speak to you that way as well.
Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied. “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. Acts 9:4-7
You may think God doesn’t work this way anymore. But I can testify that He does because I have many friends in the faith who have had Jesus speak audibly and directly to them. And like Saul, their lives changed forever in a few brief seconds.
OTHER PEOPLE
One of the signs that God is speaking to you is wise counsel from other people. This can take different forms. For example, like Moses, you may receive wise advice: When Moses’s father-in-law saw all that he was doing for them he asked, “What is this you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as a judge, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening? What you’re doing is not good,” Moses’s father-in-law said to him,” Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you.” Exodus 18:14, 17, 19a
Or like David after Bathsheba-gate, you may receive wise correction: Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? 2 Samuel 12:7-9a
Of course, be sure in all cases to ensure the counsel you are getting is wise, and godly. “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1
And how can you check if what sounds like wise counsel is, in fact, godly? Do it by reading your Bible and knowing God’s word for yourself. Then when others counsel you, you’ll know if what they’re saying aligns with God’s word.
VISIONS and DREAMS
Throughout the Bible, you can find plenty of examples of God speaking to people through visions and dreams, in different circumstances. For example, He warned the Three Magi in a dream: When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. Matthew 2:12
He encouraged and instructed Paul in a vision: The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. Acts 18:9
And, of course, the entire book of Revelation is a vision that God has shared with the whole world through the apostle John.
DISCERNMENT – AN INNER KNOWING
This is how God speaks to me, mostly. If you’re a born-again, baptized believer in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is always with you: But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you. John 14:26
If you tune your ears and listen to Him, you’ll notice God faithfully nudging you in the right direction. But how can you be sure whether your inner knowing is your own desire or if it’s the Holy Spirit? Again, use the test of God’s word. If your gut doesn’t line up with what God says, it’s not Him, it’s all you.
CLEAR or BLOCKED PATHS
One of the signs God is speaking to you is when He blocks or clears your path. The way He did for Paul and Silas: Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the provinces of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. Acts 16:6-8
Of course, you should be persistent in pursuing your goals! But if they’re out of step with how God wants you to live or the plan He has for you, he’ll block you and frustrate the process. On the other hand, when God wants you to go a certain way, He’ll pop open an unexpected window for you to climb through. It’s up to you to keep your eyes peeled for these divine but sometimes ordinary-looking opportunities.
For example, one way that God is speaking to you is your regular attendance at Forge. Do you really think you decided to do that on your own? And has God blocked your path or attendance even once?
That’s it.
At least from my perspective! And no, hearing God is not necessarily easy. But you’re responsible for getting with the program, tuning in, and learning how to hear Him. This truth is literally everywhere in the Bible. Hearing God is not a passive activity. You don’t sit back and wait for Him to wave His magic wand and abracadabra all your dreams to life. Yes, He’ll drop godly wisdom on you. But mostly, hearing God’s voice means knowing Him. Seriously. How can you know it’s God speaking to you if you don’t know who He is, the types of things He says, and how He operates?
So, our job is to tune our spiritual ears to God’s frequency, and when we do that, we’ll learn to recognize signs He’s speaking to us.
Enjoy the journey.
Blessings.
Joe Bouch
