How Do I Discern God's Voice Over My Own Thoughts? (Acts 21-22)
Welcome back to the pod! Today we’re talking about discerning the will of God – a popular topic for Christians everywhere. We’re asking the question, Q. How Do I Know If It’s God’s Voice or Just My Own Thoughts?
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It’s easy to fool ourselves when it comes to discerning God’s will
- Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NLT) 9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? 10 But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives.
We all have secret motives driven by the sinful nature.
- 2 Timothy 4:3 (NLT) 3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.
We all have a tendency to do this when looking for direction
Seek out people who say what we WANT them to say
- Not necessarily what GOD is really saying to us
- And here’s the crazy thing: it’s not always false teachers who do this
- Sometimes it’s our best friends or our loving parents
- That’s what we’re going to see in the text today
- It’s a stark reminder that discerning the will of God is a tricky thing
- And while I can’t give you a blanket answer for your personal life
- I can give you principles for discerning God’s will
But first, to the text for today. We’re actually starting in Acts 20…
Acts 20:22-23 (NLT) 22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.”
- Paul felt like he heard from God on this.
- “Bound by the Spirit” in Acts 20
- “compelled by the Spirit” in Acts 19
- Have you ever felt like this?
- But how do you know it’s really from God?
- Not an audible voice
- Gut feeling - could just be a bad burrito from the night before
- The human heart is deceitful…
It gets even more interesting:
Acts 21:4 (NLT) 4 We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem.
- “Through the HS”
- Same HS that “bound” and “compelled” Paul?
- Seems confusing.
And then this:
Acts 21:10-12 (NLT) 10 Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. 11 He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
- What the heck!? Even more messages from the HS
- Pause: What would YOU have done at this point?
Here’s what Paul did:
Acts 21:13-14 (NLT) 13 But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
- Paul was certain that he heard from God, even though it contradicted the Spirit-led advice he received from people who loved him and wanted the best for him.
- Here’s what I think was happening:
- These people were really listening to the Spirit. Sometimes our Spirit-driven love for people causes us to give them advice that we think is for their good – but is ultimately against God’s will for them.
- This kind of love is “ruinous empathy,” even though it comes from a good place. The Holy Spirit produces love in us, but it takes maturity to understand how to apply it in our relationships. Galatians 5:22, Matthew 16:22-23
- This means: When we’re trying to discern the will of God for our lives, we need to guard against this “friendship effect.” We have a responsibility to listen to the Holy Spirit above every other voice.
- This is what Paul was able to do, and that’s how he had such clarity about God’s will.
So how did he do it? I could tell you all the standard stuff:
- God’s Word: Read your Bible
- God’s Spirit: Pray for guidance
- God’s People: Ask godly friends
All of that is true, but you’ve heard it before. Today I’m going to tell you something a little different, a lot more unexpected. I want to show you two things about Paul’s life and mindset that made the difference for him…
- Paul’s clarity didn’t come at the point of decision, but from a lifelong commitment to Jesus.
- Think about what we’ve been learning through the book of Acts:
- Paul was a zealous Jew, persecuting Christians
- Then Paul became a Christian and completely changed his life.
- Quit his Pharisee job
- Lost his reputation and old friends
- Made new, less educated friends
- Committed his life to the Jesus way
- Compare that to your story. (most likely)
- You want God’s guidance in a major decision in our life
- You want to know it’s the right choice
- You want God to bless the outcome
- And yet you’re “half in” on your commitment to Jesus
- The point: your clarity flows from your commitment
- You can’t hear God’s voice at the point of decision if you’ve haven’t made a practice of listening to it a thousand other times.
- It’s like my wife at golf:
- She gets so frustrated when she mis-hits the ball
- And yet she plays three times a year!?
- You can’t expect results if you don’t develop the discipline of a committed life.
- Paul’s clarity didn’t come at the point of decision, but from a lifelong commitment to Jesus.
- If you want to discern God’s voice from your own thoughts two years from now, go all-in for Jesus today.
- Paul embraced the difficult path instead of defaulting to the easy one.
- We all do the opposite of this, for sure!
- We default to the easy path and reject the difficult one
- Surely God doesn’t want THAT for us!
- God’s will for his people is not always to take the easiest or most comfortable road.
- That’s hard for Americans to hear. We’re so used to comfort that we’ve come to expect it, even demand it. We have an entitlement mentality.
- This impacts how we “hear” the voice of God. We hear what our itching ears want by default.
- Should I stay in this marriage? Too hard.
- Should I talk to someone about my addiction? Too complicated.
- Should I increase my giving? Not gonna happen.
- Paul had a different view of God’s will.
- He expected that it would cost him something.
- It was part of his conversion story: Acts 9:15-16 (NLT) 15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
- And he taught people to have this expectation: Acts 14:22 (NLT) They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.
- That’s what you’ll read in Acts 21-22. A difficult journey (and it’s only beginning!)
- Misrepresented, Falsely accused
- Arrested, Attacked - all because he was sharing a new gospel (Jew + Gentile)
- In earlier stories believers were miraculous released from captivity (5:17-21; 12:1-17; 16:25-30).
- Not this time: from now on (Acts 21-28) Paul will be a prisoner
- History tells us he is martyred
- That’s why everyone was warning him not to go to Jerusalem.
Close:
Acts 21:14 (NLT) When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
