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56. Why Hearing God’s Voice Feels Hard · Believe & Become | Ministry, Biblical Encouragement, God's Will, How to Change, Holy Spirit

• 0:00
  Corina: Do you ever pray and wonder whether God is speaking to you or you're just talking to yourself? Hearing God can feel difficult when you're anxious, distracted, afraid of getting it wrong, or unsure of how he speaks. Today we're talking about three common reasons God's voice can feel hard to recognize and how to listen with greater peace and confidence.
• 0:23
  Speaker B: If you're tired of leading others while secretly battling doubt, discouragement and mental warfare,
• 0:28
  Speaker C: and you want practical tools to renew your mind and walk boldly in your
• 0:32
  Josh: calling as a leader, you're in the right place.
• 0:34
  Speaker B: Welcome to believe and become.
• 0:36
  Speaker C: We're Josh and Corina your spirit filled coaches, here to help you overcome those limiting beliefs and lead others confidently.
• 0:43
  Speaker B: If you're ready to hear God's voice more clearly, to step into your purpose and find joy and strength in the
• 0:48
  Speaker C: everyday silence, those Bible app reminders judging you from your lock screen and let's jump in.
• 1:00
  Josh: There was a season of my life that I remember I was applying for this job that was going to be a promotion at the same company that I was already working at. And we went to church one of the weekends during the process of applying and I felt like I heard the Lord say, I'm promoting you. And to me I was like, ah, yes, I'm going to get this job because it's going to be a promotion. And I was like, okay, God's on it. You know, I wasn't, you know, wasn't sure if, you know, that this was really the right way to go, but I was, you know, in the process of just exploring it and I was like, okay, this is it. God's going to do it. I'm going to get this promotion. And even the hiring manager was kind of coaching me and giving me lots of pointers of, you know, how to approach the interview, which was fantastic. Felt like a really good fit. Like it was, everything was lining up.
• 1:54
  Speaker B: Well.
• 1:55
  Josh: I got, I think it was the week of the interview or maybe like the day before, and I get a phone call, we're going in a different direction. We're going to do a transfer instead of promoting somebody into this position. I was like, oh, what happened? I thought I heard God so clearly. It felt like everything was lined up and it turned out that God just really had a different plan. And so many times we feel like we hear God, but then maybe we get it wrong or it feels like it was wrong. Well, actually, God had a totally different promotion planned for me that was actually right before the season where I ended up quitting my job. We Moved our family across the state to attend ministry school. And God had just a completely different plan. His promotion is maybe not our idea of promotion. And he moved me into a season of just really figuring out what I was passionate about, what I really wanted to do with my life. And he continues to promote us. And it kind of almost is like a double meaning where he's getting our name out there for us and promoting us to greater levels of just freedom, just awareness of his presence, growing our faith in him. And it has been such a promotion in this last season, but totally different from what I thought. Sometimes it can feel like I heard God's on something and you step into it and it just doesn't work well. We don't always understand what God's trying to tell us. We don't understand the full picture. And sometimes that stepping into it is just the obedience. That's what he's interested in. Or there's something else like we're interested in the end result. But he says, actually, in the process, I have something really good for you. And so sometimes it can feel hard to hear God's voice or, you know, it can feel like we're not hearing accurately. Or there's lots of things that kind of go into this process of discerning what God is saying to us. And that's what we're going to talk about today.
• 3:55
  Corina: So often I think we get stuck in fear. We get stuck in performance. I haven't been praying enough. I haven't been reading my Bible enough. I don't. God probably doesn't even want to talk to me. Or we worry that we're going to get it wrong.
• 4:12
  Speaker C: Right.
• 4:12
  Corina: Like, even for you, feeling like, I thought I heard God on this, but now there's disappointment that's coming in and that doesn't feel good either. And so there's this hesitation almost to believe that you're hearing God, because what if I get disappointed again? And so there's all these different things that come into play when we're listening for God's voice. But I really believe there is. It's a learning process. Right. The more I listen, the more I obey, the more fruit I see and the more I trust what I'm hearing. And I just love that you didn't get stuck in disappointment there. You said, oh, maybe God has a different plan. And so, yeah, we've gotten to see that promotion play out in much different ways than we expected.
• 4:57
  Josh: Yeah. So like Corina mentioned, one of the things that makes it hard to hear God is fear. If we are operating in fear. Boy, it really makes it. It's almost like God isn't speaking. Oh, he is. He. The truth is he is always speaking to us. But we get afraid. What if I mess it up? What if I make the wrong decision? Or I have to make a decision right now, but I'm afraid I'm going to mess it up. And so that makes it just really hard to discern the difference between my voice, my internal voice, and what God is saying. Or maybe that fear. Sometimes that fear is really loud and it's almost like you can't hear anything else.
• 5:40
  Corina: I actually have this picture. When you start talking about fear, it's like cotton balls, like sticking cotton in your ear. As soon as I listen to fear, it drowns out God's voice and it keeps us from hearing what God is trying to say. Because all I can hear is the fear.
• 5:57
  Josh: Yeah, it's noisy. Fear is really loud. That's true if we let it. And so part of it is just silencing that voice of fear and allowing space for God to speak in the peace, because he is perfect peace. If you're operating out of fear, you're making a decision out of fear. You're not operating with God because He doesn't operate in fear. He's perfect love. And perfect love casts out all fear. There can't be any fear in his presence. And so we just have to learn how to shut those down. As we were talking about this, I thought about Peter walking on the water. He asked Jesus, call me out onto the water with you. And he gets out of the boat. Incredible, incredible faith. And then he's walking on the water. And then what happens? The storm. He starts. He takes his eyes off Jesus and he starts looking at the circumstances, the storm around him. And he starts to sink because he took his eyes off Jesus. And that's what fear does. We might be moving in great faith, seeing the supernatural happen in our lives, but as soon as we get afraid, we look at our circumstances, we look. Look at the problems around us and we start to sink. And so that's really the key is keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to silence that fear. So when Peter got afraid, that's when things started to go south. But then he calls out to Jesus and Jesus rescues him. And I love that part of the story because there's always hope for us. Even if we start sinking, even if we feel like we really mess it up real bad, we can always call out to Jesus and he's going to lift us up. He doesn't let us sink.
• 7:36
  Corina: Yeah.
• 7:37
  Josh: When we're calling out to Him.
• 7:38
  Corina: Yeah. And fear is really misplaced trust. Fear is having more faith in my ability to get it wrong than God's ability to fix my mistake. If I really think about what. When I'm trying to move forward in my life and what is keeping me stuck or what is holding me back or what is keeping me from hearing God, well, it's my trusting in myself. And when I trust in myself, I know I'm gonna screw it up. So I won't be afraid.
• 8:08
  Josh: Cause you know yourself too well, right?
• 8:09
  Corina: Yeah, exactly. And we've all had those times in our lives where we've made. We've done something impulsively or we've made a choice in our own flesh and it has just backfired. And so we know that history really well. And so when we look at a situation, we think about, I have to make this decision. I have to make a choice. I have to make this happen. Whatever it looks like, it look. Looks like I have to do it. And I know that I am not enough. I know that I can't probably make the best decision, especially when I'm. When I'm considering all of the options and all of the possibilities and all of the what ifs. But when I put my faith in God, when I go, well, when has God brought me out of a difficult situation? When has God corrected my missteps? When have I followed him and he's actually done exceeding abundantly above what I really thought could happen in that situation? Well, then my faith starts to grow and that fear starts to go away. Because I know he's faithful. He has proven himself faithful. And so we like to say the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Well, we don't like to say that. The Bible says, Revelation 19 says that this testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So when you remember what he's done in your life, you can prophesy that into your future. God, you were faithful to me. You delivered me from that situation. You helped me make that really tough choice. You brought peace when there just was chaos around me. I know you're gonna do it again. And so we can begin to trust. And that faith builds up inside of us because I am now trusting in him to make this decision for me, to lead me, to direct me. And I'm not trusting in myself anymore. And that's really huge.
• 9:53
  Josh: On our own, we're incapable. We're not enough. But you plus Jesus is always more than Enough. Yes, you plus Jesus is more than enough. He is more than enough and also makes me think of one of our favorite declarations, which is my past does not define me. God does. That one is so powerful because we are kind of tied up in the whole story of us, right? We tend to be kind of self centered. It's just the truth. We think about all the mistakes I made or just my failures. But that doesn't define you. That's not who you are. That's just stuff that happened. He's your heavenly Father. He created you and he gets to define you. He's the only one that you should let tell you who you are.
• 10:40
  Corina: I actually thought you were going to say the declaration that my forward movement causes red seas to part. Because that's the one that made me think of when I partner with God and move forward, then he parts the red seas. He does the thing that seems impossible. And even just imagining what the Israelites must have felt when they face the Red Sea, even seeing the waters split before them, that is daunting, that is scary. But choosing to step in, choosing to step in and to follow after him, he is going to part those waters for you so you can trust his faithfulness.
• 11:14
  Josh: We believe that you as a Christ follower have the inborn ability to hear God's voice clearly. Jesus says in John 10, my sheep know my voice. They hear me, they follow me. They're not going to listen to another. So you have the ability to hear God clearly. A lot of people just are struggling with, I don't, was that God or was that me? Or maybe they think, I'm not sure God is speaking to me. Well, the truth is he is. He's always speaking to you as a believer and you hear his voice really well. You just need to learn how to trust that that voice is from God. And that's one of the things that we love to do, is to identify those lies that you're believing and replace it with the truth that you really do hear God well. And sometimes it just takes a little bit of practice with that to gain some confidence. And that's what we do in our Clarity coaching program. We love to work with people, identify those lies that are holding you back, let's get rid of those and replace them with God's truth from his word, what he's speaking to you today, and help you gain some confidence that you really are hearing from God. And sometimes it just, you need another person to go, okay, this is what I think I heard. Does that sound right to you? Yeah, that was what I was hearing, too. Guess what? That lines up with God's. What God said in his word here in this verse. And that's the process that we love to do. God always shows up and speaks so powerfully to people in our Clarity coaching session. So check that out. It's@joshandkarina.com coaching we would love to help you.
• 12:44
  Corina: One of the other things that blocks us from hearing God's voice is that we think we have to earn his approval in order for him to speak to us. And this is such a big fat lie. This lie of performance or perfectionism. You might experience that in. In many areas of your life, probably, if. If this is something you struggle with. This is probably not the only area where you think, I have to earn it or have to be perfect. But here's the reality. God wants to speak to you. Just like Josh said. John 10:27 says, My sheep hear my voice. You hear because you belong to Him. Not because you earned his attention, not because you earned the. The ability to speak his voice, not because you're a super Christian. You don't have to be a pastor. You don't have to be some holy, holy person. You just get to be you. A son or a daughter with their father who longs to speak and longs for you to hear what he has to say. You don't have to earn his affection. You don't have to earn his attention. His eye is always on you. And I love how the psalm says, how many are your thoughts toward me? I can't even count how much God thinks about me. He thinks about you so much. It's not even an amount that you could fathom because he is constantly thinking about you, about your story and the way that it intertwines with His. And so it's just his desire to be close to you, to speak with you, and to be in relationship with you.
• 14:18
  Josh: Yeah, God is crazy head over heels in love with you. And why wouldn't he want to speak to his favorite person on the planet? We're all his favorite. That's the way that God works. He's so big, we can all be his favorite. And he just longs to speak to you. He loves to speak to you. He wants that relationship with you because he's just a really good dad. And so we think, oh, I have to do something to earn my way back in. Maybe you messed up or you haven't read your Bible in a month, or you haven't been praying. God doesn't care about all that. He just says, come back to me. Come boldly into the throne room. It says in Hebrews, come boldly into the throne room. Because he just wants to be with you. He wants to know you, and he wants you to know him. That is his deepest desire. Why would he withhold his voice from his dearly beloved child? A good dad doesn't do that.
• 15:09
  Corina: Yeah. He loves you so much. That's beautiful. Sorry.
• 15:16
  Josh: Another thing that we struggle with is that we have different goals for God. So a lot of times we come to him because we want an answer. I need an answer. I gotta make a decision. I need to know what to do with my life. Am I supposed to marry this person? Do I take the job? Do I quit? Do I do this? Do I do that? What do I go to? Oh, my gosh, I'm freaking out. And we need an answer from God. And God, yes, he loves to answer those questions. But he might have a different goal for you, maybe that you're not ready for that answer. His goal is always about, let's spend some time together. How can I grow you through this situation? Are you going to trust in me? Well, that's a tough one, right? We say we trust in God, but are we acting like we trust in Him? That can be really hard to do. God's ways and his thoughts are higher than ours. And sometimes we ask, we love to ask why questions. God, why did that happen? Why did you let that happen? A lot of times we can't begin to fathom the why. God often is. He's withholding an answer because we couldn't handle it. Or it's like, there's no way I couldn't explain it to you in a way that you would ever understand, because God is so much greater. He's God, the entire big picture of the universe and what's best for you. He has that all in his mind. And he can do all the little calculations of, okay, if this happens, then this is. You know, he's got it all worked out. He's orchestrating it all. There's no way that we could possibly fathom all that. The fastest computer server farm in the world couldn't do. All those calculations that he does. He can constantly work it out for our good. That's his promise to us. And our little brains can't handle that. We just can't handle the why. Or sometimes those questions that we ask him, he's like, I would love to answer you, but you just can't handle it. You just wouldn't be Able to handle the answer.
• 17:10
  Corina: Yeah. Sometimes I think it's about trusting in his sovereignty and trusting in the fact that he's God. And like Josh said, he's got it all figured out. And. And I really want to say here that God doesn't give you or make bad things happen to you. God is not the author of the ugly and the hard and the bad. That is not what he does. He is a redeeming and a loving and a healing and a giving God. But we live in a fallen world, and because of that, bad things happen. And yeah, there is this like, well, why did he let it happen? I get that. I get that question 100% to my core. I understand. But we have to rely on the fact that God is sovereign, that at the end of the day, no matter what happens, God is sovereign. And like Josh said, he has a plan. He sees all the moving parts. And in those trials and in those difficult times, our job, our biggest and probably hardest job is to trust. To trust that God has got it. To trust that if he's allowed this to happen, if something has happened that seems like this is not a God thing, then there's a purpose in that. And it's for your victory and it's for your good. And there will be eventually a day when you can say, oh, I see what God did in me through that time. Whether or not I can see a good thing that came out of it, I can see, oh, I grew. Oh, my dependence on God grew, my character grew, my faith grew. And we can know that he's with us in those trials. In Isaiah, it says, when you go through the fire, I'll be with you. When you go through the flood, I'll be with you. He is always with you. And so sometimes even that has to be the comfort that we have in those situations. Because that why question can lead us down really bad paths if we allow it to. When we're trying to figure out God's ways and thoughts that are so much higher than ours that we can't even understand, we can't fathom. But we can trust that he's with us in the hard times and that he has big and good plans for us. So I just wanted to say that because there's something that I think we often get wrong. We think God did that to me. God, you know, made that happen. And that's just. It's just not how he works. He is sovereign, but he gave us free will. And we make choices and other people make choices, and we live in that Fallenness. And so trusting God in those times can feel like a really big task. But his heart is for your good. His plan is for your good. And you can trust Him. He is trustworthy. And that doesn't always mean that we're gonna. It's all gonna be tied up with a pretty bow and we're gonna see the silver lining. But it does mean that, that he is bringing us to a place that is for our good and for his glory. But I also want to mention that hearing God is relational. It's not transactional. And I think this is where that remembering his faithfulness and trusting in his sovereignty really come in. Because if I truly believe those things, then I can continue in relationship with Him. And when I'm out of relationship, like when I haven't read my Bible or when I haven't been talking to him, it might feel awkward to come back. You know, maybe there's that person in your life that no matter how much time you spend apart, you come back together and it's like no time ever passed. That's what really our relationship with God can be if we allow it, that we can just jump right back in. We don't have to earn our way back into his presence. But he wants a relationship, not just, here's my question, give me the answer, do the thing for me. Like, he's not looking for that. He's looking for a love relationship where you can experience him and hear his voice in really amazing ways.
• 21:03
  Josh: Yeah. Oftentimes we want an answer for right now, what do I do today? And God is way less about the do than the who. He's about who you're becoming and what he wants to do in you. He wants to speak identity to you. And so sometimes when we say God, what do I do in this situation? Maybe we just ask God, what do I need to know? Because sometimes it's just, I've got you. This might be a tough situation. You might not know what to do, but you can trust in me. You're going to have the answer when you need it, and I'm not going to let you fall. And sometimes that's all he says. I know, I've been praying, prayers, God, what about this situation? He's like, trust me, I got this. So let's give you a few action steps to walk this out. The first thing is to just connect to peace. Whenever you are trying to hear from God, you got to be peaceful. It's really like we talked about, it's really hard to hear his voice. If you're afraid if you're distracted. So put your phone away, take some deep breaths and just connect into his presence, into the peace of his presence. Think about Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Put your eyes on him and just imagine him with you. Imagine sitting down to a conversation, pour a cup of coffee for Jesus and enjoy it with Him. Put on some worship music. Spend some time just thanking him. Oftentimes that gratitude is so good because like Corina said, it connects us back to the faithfulness of God throughout our lives. It is such a powerful tool for silencing that voice of fear. Just worship him. Put some soothing music on that really connects you into peace. And then you can really just hear his voice. So much easier when you get rid of the distractions, you get rid of the noise, and you silence that voice of fear. Sometimes you might have to get a little bit authoritative and say, no, fear. Actually, I'm not going to listen to your voice. I silence you right now. Spend some time reading your Word and just in the psalms, what are the promises of God? And there's so many beautiful pictures in there that connect you to the peace of his presence. That really helps me to connect into his voice and to really hear him clearly.
• 23:11
  Corina: And the next thing is to just ask a simple relational question. So instead of going straight in with, okay, what do I do about this? Okay, thank you, thank you. Worship, worship. Okay, now what do I do about this? Right, so we want to, just like Josh said, God, what do you want me to know? What do you want me to know about this situation that I'm facing? What do you want me to know about how you feel about me? What do you want me to know about this passage of scripture that I've been reading? Just start with something relational. God, what do you want to talk about today? And then just begin to write down the first thing that pops up. Maybe it's a thought, maybe it's a scripture. Just a feeling that you get. Write it down and begin to keep track of what you're hearing him say, because you will start to see that picture come into to focus as you connect the dots between the things he's saying. Yesterday and last week and tomorrow and next month, you'll begin to see, oh, God is actually leading me and guiding me in ways that I just haven't seen before. So keeping track of it is really helpful.
• 24:12
  Josh: Yeah, and don't filter too much. Oftentimes we'll just filter things out. Oh, there's no way that could be God. Sometimes just writing that down and going Put a question mark by it. I think this is what, what he was saying to me. And then allow him to confirm that. You can even ask God, will you confirm this to me? And then pay attention to what he's saying? Maybe a song will come on the radio or your pastor will say something, your friend will call you or text you, and it'll all start to kind of line up. That can be a great confirmation of what God is saying. And the last step is really just to test and practice what you're hearing God saying. First thing is to test it. Does it agree with the scripture and the character of Jesus? God's not going to contradict himself. He's not going to say something that totally goes against his word. It's all going to line up with him and with his character. That is so important that we know enough scripture to understand the character of God. And so if you're not in that place with your relationship with God, bring in a trusted friend that has been walking with Jesus for a long time and have them help you evaluate these things that you're hearing. And then practice just in low risk situations where it's like, I feel like God is leading me to make a phone call or drop off a bag of groceries or some of the things that really, if you get it wrong, you can't get it wrong. Like, you're doing good things, you're encouraging people, you're helping people out, test those out and then see if, oh, maybe there was something more to that. Actually, that family really needed those groceries. They were, their cupboards were bare. Oh, that was God for sure directing you to go bless those people. And then as you get more confidence, you can start taking bigger risks with the Lord and feeling more confident that, yeah, actually I am hearing from God, I hear from him very clearly. And then pretty soon you'll be seeing yourself taking risks that you never, ever thought possible. Because God's just good. He's leading you every single day of your life.
• 26:11
  Corina: Hearing God is not just reserved for special people. You are his child and you are special. He wants a relationship with you and that includes communication. He wants to talk to you. You don't have to strive, you don't have to earn it. Just receive his peace, trust his goodness, and give yourself permission to learn. It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay if you don't get it right every time. Don't be discouraged. Just keep listening and keep trying because God is speaking.
• 26:41
  Josh: And sometimes you may think you got it wrong, but really, in reality, you got it right. Sometimes God will ask us to do things that don't pan out or doesn't work out the way we think it's going to. But God says, oh, actually, I had a whole different plan in that you learned something really important by trusting me. Stepping out in risk and seeing it maybe not work out the way you thought it was going to, but actually I'm still working it out for your good. And the next time that rolls around, you know, you can trust in me. So evaluate those things with the Lord and say, hey, God, actually, that didn't work out the way that I thought it was going to. I feel a little bit disappointed. I feel like maybe you let me down. Let him speak into that and say, actually, I got you. I'm so proud of you that you trusted me in this decision that you made or in this action that you took. Because again, we don't know everything that God is doing. We don't understand his plans all the time, but he is faithful to speak to you and you can hear his voice so clearly.
• 27:47
  Speaker C: Hey, friend. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds to share this podcast with someone who may need encouragement or practical tools for fighting their battle?
• 27:57
  Speaker B: Then rate and review this podcast. Help us spread the message of transformation far and wide.
• 28:03
  Speaker C: All right, time to walk back into the noise with peace, purpose, and maybe a tiny bit of guffing.
• 28:08
  Speaker B: We'll meet you back next Thursday for another episode.
• 28:11
  Josh: Bye, Sam.