Hearing from God

Message / Question what do you mean when you say you hear from God? If he spoke to people, why would different people genuinely hear opposite things???

Response:

There are many Christians who believe that God does NOT speak to people today other than through that which is recorded in Scripture. On the other hand, there are many Christians who believe that God does continue to speak to His people, personally and corporately, through many means – such as circumstances, prophetic messages, through His Spirit’s direction in our heart and mind and possibly even through an audible voice.

I believe that God is above and over all else, so I could never limit what God is able to do or how He is “permitted” to speak to us, so I am open to hearing from God in any way that He may choose to speak. Having said that, we have to remember that, even though we are born again sons of God and citizens of His great Kingdom, we still have a humanity that gets in the way of what God says just as it sometimes gets in the way of what He wants in our life.

Discerning that which is really God speaking to us and that which is our humanity, is one of the hardest tasks for the Christian, yet it is vitally important. When one person says that God told them something and another says that God told them the exact opposite thing, then clearly they cannot both be right – but never rule out the possibility that may both be wrong! When people do this, they are rarely acting from malice, rather they genuinely believe that God is speaking to them, but sometimes – in our humanity – we listen through our human/theological “filters” and we may not really get the message that God intend for us.

It is too big an issue for me to deal with it here, however I will offer one piece of advice: if someone claims to have heard from God about YOUR life and what you should or shouldn’t do, always discuss it with your spiritual oversight (pastor/s, elders) before doing anything else. Seek wisdom and guidance from those whom you trust – it may save you from a lot of disappointment and pain.