Strange Voices

Scripture: I Samuel 3:1-10; I Corinthians 14:7-8; I John 4:1

We are surrounded by different voices. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the voice of God, your desires, and the voice of the devil. Throughout the Bible, you can see instances where people struggled to discern the voice of God. Within the same chapter, Jesus goes from praising Peter, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17) to rebuking the disciple with “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me” (Matthew 16:23). It was the same person who was spiritual minded one moment and rebuked in the next. Just because you hear a voice doesn’t mean that it is God.

You must take your time and decipher whose voice you are hearing. 1 John 4:1 admonishes us to “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God”. The young child, Samuel, was not able to discern the voice of God. When he heard the voice of the Lord, he ran to Eli. Like Samuel, until you get familiar with the voice of God, it will sound like the leaders that God set over you. You are a living receptacle. You are going to be filled with something, but it depends on what you allow to come into your receptacle. It is all based on how you respond.

Will you choose to respond negatively, positively, or walk away? Every situation is an opportunity to respond to what you heard. How do you respond? Sometimes we have a negative response because we are listening to the wrong receptacle. Stop listening to what the devil is saying about what you can’t do. You can do all things through Christ which strengthen you (Phillippians 4:13). When the devil uses his voice, fight back with your own voice. Speak! If you never say anything, then you will never have anything. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).

Speak to the mountain instead of allowing the mountain to speak for you Speak life into that situation. What goes into your receptacle is going to come out—speak life instead of death. You can learn a lot from sheep. A sheep knows the voice of his master. They recognize his voice and will not follow another. There will be voices, but be careful who you give your ear to. Allow the right ones in and keep the rest out.