However You Want by Jesus Culture (Feat Chris Quilala)
I have been a Christian my entire. I have memories of God speaking to me in an audible voice as far back as I can remember. Yes! Out loud and usually by name.
As a child I thought everyone heard God liked I did. I was 5 before I realized not everyone knew Jesus! I was shocked.
Only as I got older did people let me know clearly what they thought about me “hearing” God’s voice.
I heard three things.
#1...Your crazy. Nobody hears Gods voice like that in this day and age.
#2...Really? I want to hear Gods voice! How do I do it?
#3...I hear Him too!
The people who didn’t believe me..I didn't waste my time on them.
The second group. THOSE PEOPLE had a choice. They could pursue hearing Gods voice or they didn't. do a single thing about it. When they decided to pursue God HE TALKED TO THEM! Sometimes audible, sometimes via others, sometimes through nature, sometimes through a song, sometimes through a book or the Bible. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT???? God did it HOWEVER HE WANTED!!! Yes, I am using caps and exclamation marks!!! The song on loop for me right now is “However YOU Want by Jesus Culture. “In the fire or the flood…come however you want” and when people ask God to hear his voice…THEY DO! They hear him! Try it!
The third group...
JOY UPON JOY when someone hears the Lord like you do and you agree! It is a beautiful, glorious place!
BUT sometimes people hear God say something different than I do. I firmly agree people can hear God differently and NOT disagree. You can still be going the same direction. You can still be focused on loving God and loving others. God put different passions in each of us ON PURPOSE. The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. They might just have a different road to travel to accomplish Gods will!
However, sometimes people will strongly voice that they heard God and it will be conflicting to what God has told you. What do you do with this? They read the bible, they pray, they hear God...how can they possibly differ with you? It can happen my friends! Some of these disagreements have caused the deepest wounds in my life. Not just a wound in my soulish heart but my spiritual heart. A heart that loves deeper than I could ever imagine. An unconditional God giving an unconditional love. These were times that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God audibly told me to do something then opened doors, distributed gifts, and moved me forward in a vision or calling. These deepest wounds have happened when “others” heard differently than me and said no. No, Jen, you can’t do that…I have read scripture or I have prayed also…and the answer is no.
What do you do with that kind of wounding? That kind of grieving. When you know without a shadow of a doubt what God has called you to something and someone slams the door in your face? You press in my friends! Press into GOD and say “HOWEVER YOU WANT…WE JUST KNOW WE NEED YOU..WE JUST KNOW THAT WE WANT YOU”. Please don't compromise to the "other" voices. Trust the words the Lord has spoken to YOU! You can never please man..EVER...but you CAN please God. You know His voice! Follow it. Will it be easy...no? Does it hurt..yes! You HAVE to keep your focus on God or you will sink in these situations! Forgive, brush the dust from your feet, and move on!
Find a quiet place…play this song…and tell me….what is God saying to you? Can you be talked out of it…or do you know that you know and nothing…NOTHING is going to stop you from serving your God and being as close to him as possible? Pain sometimes pushes us deeper into pursuit of God. Don’t waste that pain! DIG IN!!! You can do it! Ask him! The confidence of knowing what God has clearly said is a beautiful gift. It gives you faith that when a door is slammed the Lord will present another beautiful door for you to walk through. He loves you and loves it that you trust Him.
