Over the years I have experienced impressions through others (and myself) that were clearly from God and helpful and others that weren’t from God. Using reliable principles of discernment has been very important even if there is a long learning curve. Last week we looked at the biblical idea of discernment and how discernment provides a safe place to release the Holy Spirit. This week we will look at some basic principles of discernment we can apply to hearing from God.
In general, if a perception fits with the New Testament, especially the fruits of the Spirit, then we can consider if it might be from God. Otherwise, we shouldn’t consider it. This is probably the most basic principle of discernment. It is especially important to keep in mind the virtues that come from the Holy Spirit. Anything from God will reflect His good nature.
Just because a perception is good doesn’t mean it is from God. “Steve, go start a church in Reno, Nevada.” This is good but not necessarily from God. A communication from God needs to have in its favor than just being good. It should somehow fit with the listener’s life.
Generally, if a perception is biblical, fits your life, leads to good, and others agree then it is safe to start moving in that direction. This is a very helpful guideline. However, remember to be willing to let go at any time if it later appears that it wasn’t from God.
If a perception is very strong, clear, godly, and definitely feels like someone else talking to us then it is probably from God. These types of perceptions will not come to us all the time. However, when they do we should take them seriously and pursue them. Also, we shouldn’t reject it just because it makes us uncomfortable. E.g. you hear the clear words in your head “go talk to that person about ________.”
The bigger the impact of acting on a perception, the more certain we should be it is from God. Get other confirmation. Don’t ruin the direction of your life by following unsupported words from God.
The voice of God to us is nearly always gentle, light, humble, and sweet. Ignatius of Loyola taught this in the 16th century and it is widely accepted. Even when God is saying something we don’t especially want to hear he speaks with kindness and gentleness.
An ungodly voice is sharp, noisy and disturbing. This is the negative side of the previous principle. Perceptions with these traits should be ignored unless there is some other highly compelling factor.
A communication from God can make us very anxious, hurt, depressed etc because of our resistance. It doesn’t bring peace at first. This might seem to contradict the idea that God speaks with sweetness but actually it is our reaction that isn’t sweet. We shouldn’t dismiss a communication from God just because of the emotional impact on us.
Our own inner voice is very capable of speaking many things to us! Many confuse it with the voice of God. It can sound like another person talking. It can answer our questions, give direction, give long prophecies, teach us ideas – but none of it is from God. We should never underestimate the power of the human soul to generate all kinds of impressions that may seem like they are not from us. We need to be humble and seriously consider this possibility when doing discernment.
These principles should go a long way toward providing us a safe path for hearing God.
