I used to wonder why I never heard God speak. I never seemed to be able to hear His voice. As a preacher’s kid, I more than grew up in the church. I had the Christian home of prayers at mealtime, bedtime, and the encouraged (required) quiet time. I was at almost every service the church had to offer – there were a few exceptions – and I was evangelizing with my little New Testament before I was 5 (I was telling everyone, Jesus is coming back soon!).
But I couldn’t seem to hear God’s voice. I even started to believe that God had stopped talking to His creation.
There are countless reasons why we want to hear His voice – we want to know who we should marry, who we should vote for, what the best investment is, the right career choice, educational direction, where we should live, what church should we attend… the list is never-ending! Some people seem to just glide through tough decisions with grace and ease while others like yours truly take a few extra stumbling steps before we try to listen.
Why do so many of us struggle in this area? We went from God walking and talking with Adam and Eve in the garden to… what? We can’t even seem to get clear direction on simple basics! But perhaps that’s just what it is: our struggle. God hasn’t changed, but we do from moment to moment. So, let’s see if we can find where the line has been kinked up.
Dallas Willard wrote something that keeps coming back to me: The mind, and what we turn our minds to, is the key to our lives. (From his book, Life Without Lack – highly recommend!) This book is heavily focused on Psalm 23 and boasts that, as we spend time in God’s presence, we’ll experience peace and freedom.
That’s where the kink in the line is… how much time are we spending in His presence? If what I turn my mind to is the key to my life, y’all, I’m in trouble. It’s no wonder I’m struggling to hear God’s voice.
I’m ashamed to admit the time I’ve invested in digging through the Epstein files. It doesn’t take reading multiple files to know that evil has run rampant in the dark. And recognizing that nothing has been done about it just means we’re not really any better for knowing such depravity. But it becomes consuming. Instead of reading my Bible and devotional or blasting praise and worship in my home, I’ve watched interviews, read testimonies, and gotten sucked into the drama of the recent congressional hearings.
I might say that it’s for the sake of being informed, but instead I’ve been allowing these things – the endless scrolling from one bit of information and news to another – I’ve been allowing these things to distract me. As I’ve been focusing on the injustices, I’ve allowed my focus to venture away from God. I’ve veered away from my Source of refuge, peace, and renewal.
You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. Isaiah 26:3 AMPC
As I’ve spent too much time scrolling, seeing and reading things that no one should ever see or read, I found that my hope kept growing dimmer and dimmer. Every time I’ve gone out with my kids lately, I’ve felt on edge because someone is bound to snatch them to do horrific things to them. Every politician I’ve tuned in to, I can’t help but assume they’re lying and covering up for demonic deeds to continue unchecked. Godly men have been gunned down in public while evil men walk free.
There’s no peace to be found in any of that. But did you know that eyesight is not required for strength in the spiritual realm? It actually hinders it (Lisa Whittle). Puts a whole new spin on being careful with what our eyes see, doesn’t it?
…What we turn our minds to, is the key to our lives… What do those keys look like? Might be our social media feeds (can someone say drama?). What about binge-watching the latest trending show (whether it brings glory to God or not). Perhaps it’s an online game that we use as an escape (what or who are we trying to escape?). Or maybe it’s simply our phone (should use as a tool instead of being the tool).
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. Romans 12:2 NLT
Take a look at this same passage from The Message translation: Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:2 MSG
I want God to bring the best out of me, and that’s not going to happen while I’m watching Friends or Stranger Things. It’s not going to happen when I search ChatGPT for what AI thinks God says instead of actually reading the Bible for myself. The best in me isn’t going to suddenly appear if I’m too busy worried that people won’t love me instead of being worried that people won’t love God.
If we want to hear God’s voice – if we desire to hear Him speak to us – we need to make Him the key! This is not about earning God’s approval. If you’ve declared Jesus your Lord and Savior, then you have God’s approval (Romans 5:1-2). This isn’t about checking a box or keeping our church attendance up. This is about building relationship.
We may not hear God’s voice in an audible way, but I’m convinced that He’s always ready for conversation. He’s always walking with us, sitting with us, and listening to us – even if we’re not talking to Him specifically. Hearing Him depends on how familiar we are with Him. Is He our Sunday punch card or is He a daily relationship? Is He our go-to or is He an after-thought?
Is He the key to your life?
I want to lay out a challenge for you. Pick a time of day that you typically get a little lost on social media, YouTube, or playing online games… and do something different. Make a conscious choice to change your key. You could go for a walk, read your Bible, put on some praise and worship music and get some cleaning done, or maybe set a time in the evenings that your phone is no longer in the picture (maybe from 7pm to 7am or something similar).
The mind, and what we turn our minds to, is the key to our lives. We get to choose what the key to our lives is. I know what I’m going to choose, and I know that I will not do it perfectly… but I know what I want – I know Who I want – as the key to my life. What will you choose?