My daughter asked me recently “How do you know you’re hearing from God, or if it’s your own will?” It’s a question I’ve been asked before. For me I know there are several ways to discern when God is speaking to me. The most important thing to keep in mind is that when you feel God might be speaking, you can be sure that what He is saying will be consistent with Scripture. For me, sometimes it’s a feeling that I need to go in certain direction and sometimes God can be very clearly communicating his will in my life.

Let me share this example with you: I had been searching for a new job for what seemed liked months this past year. I was making a decision to leave a profession that I had invested over twenty years of my life in. The stress and uncertainty of my job was getting to be too much for me and I felt a change was needed. After many interviews that went nowhere, I was finally contacted by a transportation company for an interview. By this time I was feeling a little uncertain about the direction I had chosen to explore and my confidence was low. I prayed to God about it, basically saying to Him, “God, you’re going to have to hit me over the head on this one.”

As I was driving to the interview I was listening to one of my favorite Christian radio stations. Every song that played on the way to my interview was a message of placing your trust in God and knowing He will lead you in the right direction. As I arrived for my interview my first interviewer and I made a little small talk before the formal interview began. As we were talking she mentioned listening to the same Christian radio station I had been listening to on my way there! Instantly a rapport started to form between us.

I was amazed and and I felt my confidence starting to soar. The interview went very positively and I left the interview almost certain they were going to offer me the job. It seemed that God really did hit me over the head that day, everything about it felt right. I did get the offer very shortly after the interview and that is where I am happily employed today and I can clearly see God’s purpose in me being there. As is written in 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.”

Sometimes we get a feeling that we know is right or wrong, or that something we are contemplating is or isn’t the right decision for us. Billy Graham says “God never leads us to do anything contrary to his word.” This is a good test for knowing which decision is really the direction God wants for your life. This is confirmed by Romans 12:2: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

The point is, we must stay in God’s word, pray in God’s word, and have faith in God’s word in order to know the plans he has for our life. My mother prayed every morning and she told me many times that doing this strengthened her ability to hear from God. The greater her time with the Lord, the greater her own “still small voice” became in her life.

My prayer for you is that you will continue to seek God’s wisdom through his Word, that your faith will remain steadfast, and that you, too, will know the joy that comes from seeing God’s plan for your life realized. We’d love to hear how God might be speaking to you. Feel free to leave a comment or email us at ReignDropsBlog@gmail.com.