Pastoral Pearls: Messages from God
Only after all the noise has spent itself do we begin to hear in the silence of our heart - the still, small, mighty voice of God. ~ Aiden Wilson Tozer
While I was on vacation recently, I heard a woman talk about recognizing the voice of God, in a way which made sense to me. I always seem to struggle with knowing whether a message is from God or not, or how to know God’s will for me. What this woman said was so simple. She encouraged me (and everyone she met) to know whether something was “from God” or from elsewhere (maybe the devil) by discerning whether the message was from a place of love.
So, for example, feeling drawn toward voices telling me to do something that leads me away from using the gifts God gave me in a loving, life-building way would not be from God. Or if I hear a message from somewhere else – like “maybe you shouldn’t move in the direction your heart is leading you, because you are really not good enough to accomplish that, or that is a stupid idea, or that doesn’t bring you lots of money right away or fame or acceptance….” I often give in to those voices around me telling me these things that ring so true to me because of old harmful messages that have already whittled away at my self-worth or my self-image. My own self-talk can be extremely harmful to myself! Or maybe what someone might be encouraging me to do is to not follow my heart, or would be harmful to myself or others - that would not be from God.
I know enough from the Bible and Mass to know that God is only a God of Love. God only challenges me with things that make me a better person, more loving, more capable of doing good and building people up. Anything else is trying to drive a wedge between me and God’s design for my life – the uniquely good person He created me to be, between me and those I love and care about, between me and my God-given potential and giftedness. So I walked away from listening to this stranger, feeling more confident in discerning that what is from God leads me toward love, and other voices are from forces trying to interfere with God’s plan for me. Just asking myself this one question makes a world of difference for me, guiding my decisions, my words, and my actions – is this really from the God of Love I know and believe in? When I ask myself this, I can somehow see whether it is God or other… God or evil… it is so much clearer to me. I wonder if this simple question might help you, too, discern God’s will?
Loving God, your voice is always loving.
Thank you for being so steadfast, making it easier for me to discern your will for me.
Grant me strength and faith to trust the voice that leads me always toward love and a more loving life and world.
May your Holy Spirit remind me to ask that one simple question – is this what my loving God would say to me?
~ Amen