The truth hurts….. Can I be honest? Warning…. LONG POST !!

Over these last few months I’ve struggled to hear GOD’s voice. The hunger for His instruction has increased. I want him to shout it out, make no mistake, just give it to me straight. There have been many times in my life when I knew exactly what God was saying, what he was asking me to do and how He was guiding me. That has not been the case since Dennis died. Is it just me OR DO YOU sometimes have trouble hearing God’s Voice?
I’ve been wondering why I can’t seem to hear him as well these days and truth is a friend of mine and I were just having a conversation about it tonight. You know those friends whom you can be transparent with. Just as I finished getting ready for bed I came and sat down to check the weather for the week and I glanced at my emails one last time and it just sorta JUMPED out at me. “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? ”
INSERT NOW. ( article from Proverbs 31 women)
Can You Hear Me Now? LEAH DIPASCAL
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 (ESV)
Maybe you’ve heard someone say, “The Lord told me _____” or “I’ve sensed the Lord saying _____ to my heart.” Did it make you wonder if you could discern God’s voice too?
Maybe like me, you’ve wondered: Is it really possible to hear God’s voice? Can I know when He is speaking to me? Maybe that was just a random thought? What if I make a decision based on what I think God is saying and then discover I was wrong … then what?
I wrestled with these questions several years ago when our family was going through a tough time. Much was at stake, and despite numerous conversations with my husband, considering every option, it was clear that a sacrifice was required.
One morning, as I stared into my bathroom mirror — trying to ignore the knot in my stomach and holding back a wall of tears — I turned on my blow dryer and started drying my hair.
I asked again, “Lord, what if I can’t discern what You’re telling me? Will all the chaos and thoughts swirling in my mind drown out Your voice?”
As the high-pitched sound of my blow dryer blasted away, I began to hear another sound. It was muffled and faded, yet I was aware of it.
I ignored the sound at first, but even with my blow dryer going, I could still hear a familiar tone.
I turned off the blow dryer and surprisingly heard my friend Renee Swope. Confused at first, I walked into the bedroom and realized her voice was coming from the radio. She and Proverbs 31 Ministries President, Lysa TerKeurst, host a daily broadcast called “Everyday Life with Lysa and Renee.”
Renee and I have been friends for years. We’ve spent lots of time together engaging in honest and transparent conversations.
As I listened to Renee’s voice, the thought came to me, “Because you know Renee so well and have spent a lot of time with her, you can discern her voice, despite the overwhelming noise of the blow dryer.”
I realized God was teaching me a new truth about discerning His voice.
Just like my close relationship with Renee, God showed me that a close relationship with Him — based on truth, transparency and time invested — was essential to discerning His voice.
Over the years, as I’ve spent more time in God’s presence — through prayer, reading His Word and singing songs of worship — I’ve come to know Him better and recognize His voice.
Maybe you’ve felt like God has been silent lately. Like you’re not sure God actually speaks to you or that you’re capable of discerning His voice. If so, let me give you three things to consider:
Believe: Jesus said in John 8:47a, “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says” (NIV). If you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you belong to Him. You already have the capability of discerning God’s voice when He speaks to you. This happens through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Anticipate: 1 Samuel 3:9b says, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening” (NIV). What if we approached each day with an attitude of anticipation, making this verse a welcome invitation for the Lord to speak to us? Let’s set our hearts and minds to a place of readiness as we wait to hear from God.
Follow: Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (ESV). God doesn’t just speak to be heard. He speaks to be obeyed. When we discern God’s voice of direction or correction, we have to be willing to follow in obedience.
That day in my bathroom was a defining moment. I didn’t receive a specific answer to what our family was supposed to do. But I did receive a beautiful promise from God, that when the time was right, He would let us know. And no noise from this world would block out His voice, as long as we stayed close to Him.
Dear God, help me discern Your voice. Give me an attitude of anticipation to wake up every morning and say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” And when You speak, let me be faithful to follow and obey You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:Isaiah 30:21, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” (NIV)
Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (NIV)
ME AGAIN….
First I want to say that God is absolutely amazing. I mean within seconds after closing out my conversation with my friend here was this little reminder.
I read it and I re-read it and then I began to speak out-loud to God. So has my heart been in such pain that I couldn’t absorb your voice, has my mind been so pre-occupied with my “what am I to do now ” that my brain has been foggy, or has the loneliness and the desire to be alone sometimes, caused my insides to push YOUR voice away?
I wanted to think none of those but I read the devotional again. The message in His word is pretty simple. STAY CLOSE TO ME, spend TIME with me, Show me your affection HE says. I don’t know about you but I need His guidance and His instruction, but most of all I simply need daily communion with HIM. FORGIVE me GOD for turning your volume down with my broken heart.