Are you Hearing from God?

In over 35 years serving God’s people as a pastor, by far the greatest challenge for God’s people in every congregations I have served is: hearing from God. Many churches never accomplish what God intends for them to accomplish in their communities and cities because they are unable to clearly discern God’s voice from their own voice, cultures voice and the voice of satan.

Why is it so difficult to hear from God? One certainty is that God is not hiding from you. He wants you to hear from Him. In fact the Bible says:

47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”(Jn. 8:47)

Your life is not “Wheel of Fortune” and God does not require you to “buy a vowel” and solve the puzzle. He wants to communicate with you more than you want to communicate with Him. He loves you.

There are competing voices in our world but none so clear as God’s if we are truly submitted to His Lordship/Leadership in our lives. How can I distinguish it from the voice of satan the voice of culture, the voice of well meaning people who are speaking out of self interest…and even my own voice?

We have to tune in! Surrender is the starting point. We cannot continue to manage our lives as the central decision makers and expect we will stumble into God’s purpose for our lives. I stated earlier that by far the greatest challenge for God’s people in the congregations I served, has been hearing clearly from God. As the shepherd it was important for me to set the example.

I have not always been the perfect example. My efforts at times fell short. Success came when I surrendered completely to God, holding nothing back. In those moments I discovered how crystal clear God’s voice really was and how easy I could hear Him. As I listened God showed me how to lead His people where He wanted to take them.

Our individual struggle to hear from God is always centered in our struggle to surrender. The act of letting go is so counter to our nature. The voices that convince us we can fix it if we only stay in control are not from God. We can’t fix anything. We can only surrender and allow God to be in complete control. 

Join us this weekend Sat. 6pm or Sun. 10:30am as we look at How you can Hear from God. www.graceplaceausitn.com