Is It God or the Devil? How to Discern Who and What You’re Hearing
I’m struggling with a decision right now. It’s a biggy–one that, depending on what I do, will effect a lot of people.
It’s the kind of decision that I wake up thinking about. And I’ve noticed something about this decision–I have a ton of fear around it:
What if I make the wrong call?
What if it all goes south?
What if this ends up hurting people?
What if . . . . ?
It’s the fear that gives it away for me. That’s how I know I’m being messed with by our archenemy, the deceiver of the nations, satan. Fear is one of his favorite weapons; and If I’m afraid, I can be sure that the devil is in the details.
So here are a few ways I’ve learned to distinguish the voice of God from the voice of the devil:
God won’t contradict the Bible. The devil will. God isn’t going to lead me to do anything that is unbiblical. So if I’m being led to divorce my wife and marry another woman, or to murder a doctor who performs abortions, I can be sure that the devil is the one doing the leading. God won’t compromise his Word. Satan will.
If I’m feeling shamed or beat up, it’s the devil. Satan kills, steals and destroys. That’s his end game. His voice to you is going to sound angry and defeating. You’ll feel less qualified, less loved and less significant. God’s voice has an upward pull to it. He may convict you of sin, but he’ll do so by telling you how much he loves you and longs for you to do better. One voice will bring hope, the other despair.
If what I’m feeling or hearing makes me care for someone less, it’s the devil. How many times have you gotten all amped up about an upcoming conversation with someone? As you think about the person and his or her motives, you get angrier and antsier. You become convinced that he or she is out to get you and you determine not to drop your guard with them. In fact, when the conversation actually takes place, you go in swinging. That’s the devil.
Satan can’t read people’s minds and he isn’t omniscient. God does know people’s thoughts and he is omniscient. But God will never reveal something to you about others that will cause you to love them less or to have less compassion for them. He’ll reveal things to you that lead you to serve them, pray for them and love them more.
Satan just makes stuff up and then whispers it in our ears. So when I’m hearing a bunch of junk about someone that makes me want to greet them with an uppercut, I can be sure that what I’m hearing isn’t true and isn’t from God.
Photo Credit: Derrick Jones
Satan deals in fear and hatred. God deals in love and peace. This is how I’m discerning truth in my current decision-making season. One side has fear and lots of little whispers all over it. The other side is calm, hopeful and peaceful. And once I discern which voice belongs to whom, I can easily rebuke the one and march decidedly in the direction of the other.
Don’t be led astray by the enemy. Don’t lose sleep over things that are fearful and not even true. Don’t attack others based on a bad feeling about them. Learn to discern the voice of God–the loving, uplifting, healing, unifying voice of God. And then run in his direction.
