Our youth began a study this past Sunday on "Answers to Difficult Questions". The first question was:
How do I Know if God is Speaking to Me?
It's always interesting to me when I lead a youth study. I find that there is little difference in the questions youth ask me from the questions an adult would ask me. This study is no excpetion. We've all struggled with the question "How do I know if God is speaking to me" at various points in our lives, and many of us still can't tell whether our thoughts are from God or just our own.
There is a difference between our thoughts and God's leading or prompting voice. It is a relational process of discernment that includes personal intimacy with God, connectedness in community with others, and familiarity with God's Word. Here are some tools to help you in answering the question:
1. Know Who You Believe In (John 10:1-10,27)
You need to know who Jesus is. There are many things that will seek to stray you from Him, but knowing who He is will make it easy for you to discern whether something comes from Him or not.
2. The Best Way to Know Him is through His Word (Psalm 119:105)
The Bible tells you everything you need to know about following Jesus and knowing God. It's not an exhaustive work on who God is, but it is all we need to make it through this life. To know God means to read His word. To say you love God means that you love reading His Word.
3. Test What You Hear With Your Knowledge of Who God is (1 John 4:1-6)
Satan doesn't come at you in the form of a grotesque, winged, horned, fanged, being! He knows God's word and he knows how to twist it. Like God, he comes to us in our thoughts and perceptions, and we need to be alert and ever ready to confront and "test the spirits".
4. God Does Not Contradict Himself (Mark 3:20-26)
God does not contradict Himself. Some say that He has given us new revelation... that may be the case, as long as it does not contradict what He has already given us through His Word.
Through all of this, another important factor that we need to hold on to is that God intended for us to be in community with each other. Through that community we learn, we love, and we help each other out. Sometimes God's Word can be confusing. Studying it together helps us to understand and grow deeper in our relationship with Him. It also helps us hear His voice much clearer!
