Writing on the Wall

"But how do you know when God is talking to you?" I remember sitting with my bible study one night, discussing how to discern God's will in our lives. April, in particular, had a lot to say on the subject. "Like, everybody talks about laying out a fleece or writing on the wall but how do you actually KNOW that God is talking to you, and it's not just your imagination or Satan? It's not like biblical times, when and angel appears and just tells you what to do."

That's not exactly an easy question to answer. I can say with 100% certainty that there have been times that God has told me one thing but I could not say with the same level of certainty how God told me that or how God might tell someone else the same thing. How do you know when God is talking to you? How do you listen?

Later that night, I was thinking about the conversation and the story of Samuel popped into my head. Samuel is famous for knowing how to listen to God and for being God's messenger to Kings. Obviously, he was a man who knew how to listen. Except he didn't. Not at first.

There was once a boy named Samuel, who lived and worked in the temple. While he was getting ready for bed, Samuel heard someone calling his name. He ran to his guardian, Eli, but it wasn't Eli who had called to him. It happened three times before God realized it had to be God calling to Samuel. He sent Samuel back to his room and told him to answer God and to listen.

Samuel did not know yet how to recognize God's voice. He didn't know God yet. Even though he lived in biblical times, people weren't used to God calling out to them. His logical mind concluded that it had to be something else. I wonder how often I do that; hear God calling out to me and assume that it is something else because I do not know God and am not expecting God.

The first thing to remember when trying to listen to God is that we have to expect God. If we do not expect God to speak to us, we will not learn how to listen.

I pushed myself out of bed and retrieved my phone, typing out a series of disjointed sentences about how it was always hard to discern God's voice, especially if we don't know God. I was pretty sure they were things I needed to say. I know God wants us to know God so I knew I needed to tell April what I knew about God. I wasn't teaching her how to listen to God but rather, who God is.

In the story, Samuel needed to go to someone who knew God in order to understand that God was speaking. He went to the high priest who told him, "it must be the Lord. Answer and listen."

If you think God is speaking to you but are struggling to discern between your imagination or the word of God, then you need to go to someone who knows God better than you do. The best resource for knowing God is the bible. If it does not line up with the bible then it is not God. God speaks to us in many different ways, sometimes words, a nudge, literal writing on the wall but you will never be certain if you are not checking the bible and people who are wiser than you. That's how I knew for certain that God was talking to me when I felt the urge to tell April the story of Samuel learning to listen. It lined up with the bible.

I cannot say for certain what it will be like when God talks to you but if you really want to listen then expect God and check when you are uncertain.