Hearing God Chart, Part 1

What does God’s voice sound like? How do you know the difference between your voice and God’s voice? What do you do when the thoughts running through your mind sound like something God would say, it could even be Scripture or a quote from a great message, but the “voice” behind it seems more like fear than the love of a good Father?

The Hearing God chart has been a teaching tool we’ve used for years. It helps answer these questions in a way my brain understands and can reference easily!

I’ll share it with you today and remind you what each part represents. It’s a fantastic tool to help our brains process the thoughts we think. The key is taking the time to slow down, become aware of the thoughts we are thinking, check them using the chart, and ask Jesus to clarify what He is saying to us. 

The hallmark of God’s voice is love. The whole of the Bible is filled with stories that tell us again and again not only that God is loving, but that God is love. When it’s God, even if it’s a hard thing that is said, you will feel loved by it. Love comforts, protects, honors, encourages, frees  and strengthens us. It never fails. The words, thoughts, and ways of God will never come from a place that isn’t full-on unfailing love for you and the world that God made. 

The base shape of the chart is the cross. Jesus showed us God’s heart and made it clear throughout His life and death that He is the way to the Father. His way gives us full access to God’s voice, God’s spirit, and God’s loving life. 

You too have a voice and always a choice. You and I can live on the left side of this chart in conversation with God’s voice or we can, if we choose, live on the “other” side. There have been times that I have aligned my voice and my choices with fear to the extent that the “God” side seemed so distant. Seemed is the key word because the “other” voices, as real as they feel, are false. A simple question to Jesus brings clarity: Jesus, I feel distant from God—but what’s your truth? “I have never left you and I never will, my love.” 

We get to live from life, love, belonging, peace, freedom, conviction, and the type of kindness that leads us to repentance (literal meaning: to re-think). 

This basic hearing God chart has blessed my own life and helped many others. I can’t wait to share a new chart with you! Next week we’ll look at the “Hearing God Chart, Part 2!” You’ll be the first to hear about it and see it!