In the previous webpage we made the astounding discovery that our biggest problem in hearing from God is that it is usually as easy as breathing. Just as for most of the day we don’t pay conscious attention to our breathing, so we usually hear from God without analyzing what we are doing. The Almighty speaking into our lives is such a common event that it is almost beyond belief. In addition to God, however, many other voices are seeking to speak into our lives, including supernatural intelligences that are eager to deceive. Our challenge is to determine which of the many voices impacting our lives is from God.

To grapple with this, let’s first plunge into a deeper understanding of how God communicates and why he chooses those methods. Trends in human communication help provide insight into God’s ways. When a man phones his wife at work or has flowers sent to her, he is not being standoffish, even though in these types of communication he doesn’t speak with her face to face. He is using his ingenuity to broaden the range of his expressions of love. Likewise, God communicating through things he has made, in no way implies he is a little cool towards us. He is already so intimate with you that he is one spirit with you and lives inside you. He is simply being creative in the way he shares his thoughts with his loved one.

The more loved or powerful a person is, the more options he has in finding willing messengers. The more access he has to messengers or ingenious methods, the more he is likely to at times communicate through such means, rather limit himself to face-to-face communication.

In the light of this, it is not surprising that the mind-blowingly intelligent and powerful Lord chooses to communicate through his own creations. He has an enormous range of options, from laws of nature, right up to humans and angels. So if, in seeking to detect the hand and voice of God, we ignored everything but direct visitations from God, we would miss almost everything he wants to communicate to us.

Even if we expanded our search to include things said and done by his willing subjects – angels, Christians and even nature – we could still miss God, because he is quite able to use those who hate him.

The Almighty Can Speak Through Anyone Or Anything

My first guess would be to expect the character of the messenger to be a critical factor in determining whether a message is from God. The Bible proves me wrong. To my surprise, the critical factor is the character of the message, not the character of the messenger. This sounds so radical that you have every right to demand strong Scriptural proof, but let’s start by investigating rational objections to this biblical fact.

Despite my initial presumptions, I am forced to admit there is no logical reason for supposing God would only speak through spiritually perfect channels. We don’t even operate that way ourselves. For example, although the pure in heart are hardly aware of it, the Internet is essentially evil. Almost its every use feeds off its popularity, and at the heart of the Internet’s popularity is pornography. Yet no matter how evil the Internet usually is, whenever holy people use it to communicate, the result exalts the Lord Jesus and promotes virtue. So it should not surprise us that the Holy Lord occasionally chooses to speak through godless people or other channels that, when he is not speaking, are unclean. In fact, if it surprises us, we are close to hypocrisy because if God were to limit himself to using only spiritually perfect messengers, he could not use any of us. If the channel is usually godless it is no hindrance to God. For the brief moment that God speaks through an impure channel, evil is silenced and what is said is true and pure. When God stops speaking, what comes through that channel will revert to its usual godless chatter.

Being the all-powerful One in whom we all – even anti-Christians – ‘live and move and have our being,’ God can speak through anyone. Our magnificent Lord is so intellectually superior – so able to outwit every other intelligence in the universe – that he repeatedly uses as his own instruments, humans and spiritual beings who passionately hate him and are doing everything they can to destroy his purposes. We see this throughout Scripture. In the previous webpage we mentioned Joseph’s brothers, whose evil intentions God used as instruments of his love. God’s power to use his enemies is stunningly displayed at the opposite end of the Bible, where it speaks of the ten horns who serve the beast that emerges from the abyss. They are so violently anti-God that they ‘make war against’ the Son of God. Scripture declares that the Almighty will put into the very hearts of these evil, God-hating beings the desire to do something that serves God’s purposes (Revelation 17:12-17). Such is the genius of the Almighty Lord that, in the blind fury of their venomous hate for Jesus, God’s enemies end up furthering God’s plans.

So in our search to hear from God we can mindlessly exclude nothing – not even the most vile, anti-God forces in the universe. This is so startling that despite having just quoted from the Word of God – the book of Revelation and the divine account of Joseph’s life – it still sounds almost beyond belief. So let’s add a particularly clear Scriptural example. The Holy One spoke through Caiaphas while this enemy of righteousness was in the very act of persuading others to join him in plotting the murder of the Messiah. For a few moments he was both God’s spokesman and the man who, above everyone else, was guilty of Jesus’ crucifixion.

John 11:51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, (52) and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God . . .

The king of idolatrous Egypt sent a message to godly King Josiah, ‘God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.’ The Bible declares that this heathen king was actually speaking God’s message to Josiah. Ignoring this pagan’s claim to be delivering God’s Word, Josiah went to war and was slain (2 Chronicles 35:20-24).

On the other hand, a commander of another heathen army sounded very spiritual when he addressed another godly king, Hezekiah. ‘Have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it,’ (Isaiah 36:10). This time what was said was the exact opposite of God’s message.

Discerning God’s voice is starting to seem disturbingly complex, but there is no need for concern. In just a few paragraphs it will begin to become surprisingly simple.

If God can prophesy through someone while that person is arranging Jesus’ murder, it is obvious that our Lord could seek to speak to us through non-Christians. Clearly, we need prayerful discernment before accepting anything that comes from a non-Christian. Nevertheless, we need prayerful caution even when godly people speak.

It is staggering to realize that the devil can speak through revered Christian leaders and trusted Christian friends. The Bible records the tragic incident in which an old (and therefore experienced and respected) prophet claimed to speak the word of God to a younger prophet. What he said in the name of God was a lie. The young man died as a result of heeding the old prophet (1 Kings 13:1-24).

Our need to be constantly alert to the possibility of the Evil One speaking when least expected, is vividly displayed in Peter the apostle. On one occasion, what he said to Jesus seemed so loving and yet was so much from the Evil One that Jesus had to say, ‘Get behind me, Satan.’ Peter was sincere. He loved God, and Jesus’ welfare was paramount to him, but still he got it seriously wrong. Just a few verses earlier, this very man had received Christ’s high praise for hearing from God (Matthew 16:17-23).

Not So Difficult

On the surface, the possibility of our Lord speaking through God-haters, and the devil speaking through esteemed Christians seems alarmingly confusing. Nevertheless, we usually instinctively recognize the source. We’re not infallible, but each of us usually gets it right because no matter how strongly one part of us might long to sin, God lives inside us.

Let’s examine how this works in practice. Suppose you were about to sin and a God-hating skeptic mocks, ‘I thought Christians weren’t meant to do that.’ Even though you might want to sin so much that you ignore the warning, you would have recognized those words as godly truth that should be heeded. Or suppose you are strongly tempted to commit adultery. You are finding almost irresistible the allure of a highly attractive person in your church. Your trusted, godly pastor asks you to work on a church project that will involve long hours alone with that person. Almost your whole being might seem to cry out, ‘Yes!’ Nevertheless, you would know that this is one of those rare moments when your pastor’s suggestion is too spiritually dangerous to be from God. The pastor was simply using human wisdom, deciding on a course of action without knowing your vulnerability to this person.

When Peter, in all sincerity, said the wrong thing to Jesus it was because Peter didn’t understand God’s plans. Jesus, however, had heard from God about this matter and so, though Peter’s words were enticing, Christ could immediately recognize Peter’s love-motivated reaction as not being from God.

The young prophet mentioned earlier who made the tragic mistake of accepting the old prophet’s invitation, knew that no matter how enticing the old man’s words, they contradicted what God had already told the young prophet.

The heathen commander, who in part of his message to Hezekiah seemed so spiritual, in other parts of that same message said things that were totally contrary to Scripture (Isaiah 36:7; 2 Kings 18:4,5).

So even in these deceptive cases, discerning what is from God is not as perplexing as it seems.

When is God Likely to Speak Through Non-Christians?

Just before moving on, let’s examine the most likely scenario in which God might speak to you through a non-Christian. Scripture emphasizes that it was because of the office he held that God chose to speak through ungodly Caiaphas. ‘. . . as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation . . .’ (John 11:51). We cited God speaking through a heathen Egyptian. He was a king. This reminds me of:

Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

Strong indication that God often chooses to speak through people in authority is found in a Scripture so significant that I feel the need to quote quite a bit of it.

Romans 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (2) Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.. . . (4) For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. (5) Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. (6) This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.

Here is a strong hint that God could speak to us through non-Christians positioned above us in the workplace:

1 Peter 2:18 Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.

Ephesians 6:5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. (6) Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. (7) Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men

Here is another type of authority that, even if non-Christian, might speak God’s guidance into a Christian’s life:

1 Peter 3: 1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

So it seems particularly likely that God will speak to us through those who have authority over us – parents, husband, employer, work supervisors, civil authorities, church leaders – even when these people are ungodly. Given our tendency to feel spiritually superior to some people, it is a sobering blow to the ego to realize that God could choose to speak to us through non-Christians. It is a blow we should welcome, however, because every spiritual thing we have is due solely to God’s grace, and it is only to the humble that his grace continues (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

As usual, however, God refuses to be straight-jacketed. We can never say God will always speak through those in authority. Clear proof of this is the early Christians finding themselves compelled to disobey a direct command from the highest Jewish authorities, because the leaders were not speaking from the Lord but directly contradicting Jesus’ command to preach the gospel (Acts 4:18-20; 5:28-29).

We have a great tendency to think we have God figured out and subconsciously create little rules such as, ‘God will only speak through Christians’ or, ‘God will always speak through those in authority’ or, ‘God will only speak through those in authority.’ The moment we put limitations on our expectations from God, we are setting ourselves for a fall. The Almighty has deliberately chosen to be unpredictable so that we can be assured of divine guidance, not by following a presumptuous manmade rule, but solely by keeping close to the heart of God. For this reason, I am regularly on the alert for the Lord choosing to surprise me by speaking through the opposite of someone in authority. It would be just like God to target my preconceptions or pride by speaking through a child or someone intellectually retarded.

Supernatural Confusion

The Bible warns that there can be times when prophets accurately foretell the future and even though it happens exactly as prophesied, the message is not from God. Again this seems frighteningly confusing but it turns out to be straightforward.

Deuteronomy 13:1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, (2) and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, ‘Let us follow other gods’ (gods you have not known) ‘and let us worship them,’ (3) you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. . . . (5) That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, . . .

As clearly stated in the above Scripture, these miraculously confirmed false prophecies involve the call to worship other gods. You don’t have to a genius to conclude that no matter how supernatural it is, if it is a leading to become involved in a false religion, it is not from God.

David’s life hung by a thread. King Saul had mustered the nation’s entire army to hunt him down and kill him. It was a terrifyingly deadly game of predator and prey. By an amazing set of circumstances David found himself not just once, but on two separate occasions, ideally positioned to easily and safely strike Saul dead. In a single stroke he would not only save his own life, but gain the throne, as God had promised. So astounding were these opportunities that on each occasion David’s trusted friend concluded that it had to be an act of God (1 Samuel 24:4; 26:8). Yet, no matter how supernaturally the circumstances seemed to have been orchestrated, David was not fooled. The Holy Lord would never lead David to murder the Lord’s anointed. David needed neither to be Einstein, nor a supersaint to figure that out. What had seemed confusing was not so difficult after all.

Safeguards Against Deception

Scripture insists that people have entertained angels without realizing it (Hebrews 13:2). The supernatural touches us far more often than we realize, with both God and his spiritual enemies speaking through the most unlikely people.

Since the Bible is uniquely authoritative, one might think that the perfectly safe way of knowing that something is from God is through the Bible, but not even this is true. You will recall that the devil on two occasions quoted from the Bible in his attempt to fool Jesus into sinning. In each case, Jesus’ response was to quote another Scripture, thus proving that the devil’s twist on the Scripture he quoted was actually inconsistent with divine revelation. The Bible is always right, but this is by no means true for every interpretation of the Bible.

Occasionally, you will have difficulty distinguishing between the devil’s voice and your own thoughts. This is because the devil is the deceiver. He often speaks sweetened evil in our minds and tries to con us into thinking it is our own thoughts and desires. If we are likely to delight in what initially seems a legitimate excuse to sin, we are particularly vulnerable to deception. If, however, we are committed to denying ourselves and clinging to Christ, we are safe. Jesus revealed that our willingness to do God’s will is a critical factor in determining whether we are granted the divine discernment to know whether a revelation is from God.

John 7:17 If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

This is consistent with Psalms 25:14:

The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

Ezekiel 12:2 says that it is because the people are rebellious that they have ears but do not hear.

I would hate to be a child again. In what to a little child seem random fits of selfishness my loving parents would decide that I must not do dozens upon dozens of things I long to do. And all the things I vehemently do not want to do, they insist that I do. What would make it so infuriating and make me feel unloved is that so often there seems no sensible reasons for my parents asserting their will and apparently stealing from me my legitimate rights and pleasures. Likewise, as adults we do not mind obeying God when we see the love and wisdom in his decisions. It is a very different matter when he asks of us something that seems nothing but a senseless restriction. But what’s the point in having a God if he doesn’t guide us away from dangers we don’t understand or can’t see? And why should God bother to reveal his will to us if we wouldn’t trust his wisdom enough to obey him? For him to tell us when we have no intention of obeying would only increase our condemnation. So if we are to hear from God, our eagerness to obey is a critical issue. At the end of this series is a link entitled Enjoying God’s Will for You. If you have not already done so, I urge you to read it when you come to it.

Don’t you find it astounding that Jews can meticulously study the Old Testament and not realize that in it God is telling them over and over that Jesus is their Messiah? Scripture says this inability to know what God is saying will remain in place until one ‘turns to the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). In other words, God can speak to us, like he speaks to Bible-reading Jews and we can completely miss it and fall into deception unless we repent of our sin, dump our know-it-all attitude, and seek God. We earlier mentioned Jesus rejoicing in the way God hides vital revelation from the ‘wise’ and reveals it to ‘little children.’ Obviously, if they were really wise, they would know. The very beginning of Romans speaks of those who, claiming to be wise, became fools and fell into spiritual deception. When we think ourselves smart or spiritually knowledgeable we are in grave danger.

John 9:39 Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’ (40) Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’ (41) Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

1 Corinthians 3:18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a ‘fool’ so that he may become wise. (19) For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’

‘Do not be wise in your own eyes . . .’ warns Proverbs 3:7.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (7) Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

Again, we read:

Psalm 25:9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

The proud are so smart that that they don’t need God to guide their decision making. They reject guidance. You can’t tell a proud person anything.

The humble person, however, even when he or she is definitely hearing God’s word, such as when reading the Bible, has the prayerful, dependent attitude of the psalmist who, not once, but repeatedly, prayed to God for understanding of the Scriptures he was reading (Psalm 119:18,19,125,144,169). A humble person doesn’t dare rush off in impatience like King Saul who couldn’t wait for Samuel. The humble wait, even when God seems to be taking too long. Neither does the humble person act like the Israelites binding themselves to an agreement with the Gibeonites without bothering to consult God (Joshua 9:14-16). To them, it seemed so obvious that the Gibeonites were from a distant land that there was no need to check with God. The humble might be highly capable but they never forget that in everything God is greater. They trust God, not their own abilities.

Besides the devil’s deception, there will also be times when you have difficulty distinguishing between the Lord and your own thoughts. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?’ (Jeremiah 17:9). However, there is a further reason for our difficulty and this one is thrilling: you and God are one.

God Speaks Through Our Desires

Most temptations are evil spirits trying to speak to us through our desires for ease, pleasure, self-preservation and so on. So it is not surprising that we Christians tend to become very distrustful of our desires. Nevertheless, the Holy One lives within us, working to give us godly desires.

Ezra 1:5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites – everyone whose heart God had moved – prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

Ezra 7:27 Praise be to the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem in this way

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Why doesn’t God Make it Easier?

‘If only God would give me a supernatural sign . . ’ we think wistfully. In reality, such a sign would not be nearly the solution to our guidance problems that we might imagine it to be. We have already seen that supernatural confirmation is not conclusive proof that we should follow what is said. Moreover, almost any act of God can be dismissed as coincidence or given a psychological or natural explanation.

An angel appeared to Gideon.

Judges 6:21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared.

Yet this merely seemed to increase his dependence upon miraculous signs. After all of this he still wanted a supernatural sign. He thought carefully as to what would remove his skepticism and give him the assurance he craved. He wanted to test God by asking for a sign that could not possibly have a natural explanation. He could have chosen anything. So he devised a test he was certain would satisfy him. The miracle happened just as he had demanded, but not the miracle of changing him from skepticism to belief. So he asked for yet another sign. Even after this sign was also granted, he was still anxious and had to be given yet another sign (overhearing an enemy soldier recount a divine dream). I’m in no position to be the slightest critical of Gideon. What God was asking him to do required enormous courage. The point, however, is that supernatural signs are not the cure-all that we tend to imagine. Maybe the all-knowing Lord really does know best when he doesn’t always give us supernatural signs.

Jack Deere, who is far better at hearing from God than me, pointed out something that rang true the moment I read it. And I don’t particularly like it. Let me broaden his point to include most scenarios. When God speaks with great clarity, it is usually because we have a great need for clarity. It usually happens when obeying God’s message will prove so challenging or we are already in such distress, that on top of all our other burdens, coping with doubts as to whether it is really God speaking would be too much to bear.

Related Webpage

Help in Finding God’s Will How to Avoid Deception

Enjoying God’s Will for You

Beginning of this Series

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