Is This God, Me, or the Enemy?

How to Discern What You're Hearing

Have you ever had a thought and immediately wondered, okay...was that God? Was that me? Or was that the enemy?

Because I have. More times than I could possibly count.

We talk a lot as Christians about hearing from God, following the Holy Spirit, taking our thoughts captive, and recognizing the enemy's lies. It all sounds pretty straightforward until you're the one sitting there trying to make an actual decision.

Should I do this? Is God telling me to wait, or am I just scared? Is this conviction from the Holy Spirit, or am I beating myself up again? Did God put this desire on my heart, or do I just really, really want it?

And sometimes the harder I try to figure out what I'm hearing, the louder everything gets.

I've learned over the years that discernment isn't about becoming so spiritually mature that you never question anything again. I don't think we suddenly reach some level of Christianity where God's voice comes through like a crystal-clear radio station, and we never have to wonder.

For me, it's been much more about knowing God well enough that I'm learning to recognize what sounds like Him.

And just as importantly, what doesn't.

So How Do You Know If God Is Speaking to You?

Biblical discernment is really the ability to recognize what is true, what is false, and what aligns with the character and Word of God. It's not a gut feeling with a Christian label slapped on it, and it doesn't mean living suspicious of every thought that crosses your mind.

Hebrews 5:14 talks about mature believers having their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.

I love that word: trained.

Because training takes time. It takes repetition. It means sometimes you're going to get something wrong and learn from it. Discernment grows as we spend time with God, learn His Word, pray, listen, seek wisdom, and actually walk with Him through real life.

Think about the people you know best. Someone you love could send you a text from a random phone number without signing their name, and there's a good chance you'd know who it was just by the way they talked.

Yep. That's my husband.

Why?

Because you know him.

That's what we're after with God. Not a perfect formula for decoding mysterious messages from heaven. Relationship.

Start With What God Has Already Said

When I'm trying to discern something, this is the first place I have to come back to, especially when my emotions are running the show.

What has God already said?

If I think God is telling me something that directly contradicts Scripture, I can stop wondering. It's not Him.

I know that sounds ridiculously obvious, but human beings are exceptionally talented at making something complicated when we don't like the answer we've already been given.

We'll pray about it. Journal about it. Ask six friends. Listen to three sermons. Look for a sign. Then look for another sign because we didn't particularly care for the first one.

I've done it too.

Sometimes we're not actually confused about what God said.

We're hoping He changed His mind.

That's one reason Scripture is such a gift when we're trying to discern God's voice. It gives us something solid when our feelings, fears, desires, circumstances, and everybody else's opinions are pulling us in ten different directions.

Before I spend three days asking, what do I feel like God is saying? I need to ask, what has God already said?

That's the filter everything else has to pass through.

God's Voice Sounds Like God's Character

Knowing Scripture also helps us know the character of the One speaking.

God may correct me. He has.

He may challenge me, ask me to wait when I desperately want to move, or tell me to move when I would much rather stay comfortable. Following Him has absolutely taken me into situations I would not have chosen for myself.

But God will never contradict who He is.

This is especially important when we're dealing with fear and shame because those voices can sound incredibly convincing.

In Can Satan Control Your Thoughts?, we talked about the difference between conviction and condemnation. The Holy Spirit convicts us, but the enemy condemns us.

Conviction says, Stacy, that wasn't right. Come back to Me. Let's deal with this.

Condemnation sounds more like, Look at you. You screwed up again. God must be so disappointed in you. Who do you think you are trying to teach anybody anything?

One corrects something I've done and draws me toward God.

The other attacks who I am and makes me want to hide from Him.

That's a pretty important distinction.

God can be firm with us without being cruel to us. So when the voice in your head constantly tells you that you're worthless, hopeless, abandoned, unforgivable, or too far gone, don't automatically attach God's name to it just because it feels spiritual.

Hold it up against what you know about Him.

But What If It Just Sounds Like...Me?

This is where I think a lot of us get tangled up because we're expecting God to sound like Morgan Freeman narrating our lives.

STACY. TURN LEFT AT THE NEXT INTERSECTION.

Honestly, there are days I would appreciate this arrangement. 😂

But the Holy Spirit lives within believers. His leading may come through a Scripture that suddenly hits differently, a conviction you can't shake, wisdom that becomes clearer as you pray, or a persistent nudge that continues bringing you back to the same thing.

So the question isn't always, Did I hear some unmistakable voice that clearly wasn't mine?

I think a better question is: Does what I'm sensing align with Scripture and God's character, and does the Holy Spirit continue bringing me back to it?

At the same time, I have to be honest enough to admit that my own desires can get LOUD.

I can want something badly enough to find confirmation everywhere if I'm not careful. Suddenly the sermon is about it. An Instagram post confirms it. Somebody says one random sentence over lunch and I'm thinking, THERE IT IS.

A bird lands on the fence and apparently the Lord has spoken.

Listen, God can use anything He wants. But this is why feelings and circumstances can't be our only filters. Sometimes I want something. Sometimes I'm afraid of something. Sometimes I'm tired, emotional, hormonal, annoyed, or impatient.

Being human doesn't stop when we become Christians.

Discernment means being willing to acknowledge all of that while still asking God for truth.

Sometimes Fear Sounds an Awful Lot Like Wisdom

This one has gotten me more than once because fear knows how to sound responsible.

Maybe now isn't the right time.
I should probably wait until I know more.
I just want to be wise.

And sometimes that really is wisdom.
But sometimes I'm scared.

I've had to learn that there is a difference between God telling me to wait and fear convincing me never to move. That's why one question I like to ask myself is:

If I weren't afraid, would I still believe God was telling me no?

It's not some magic discernment formula. But whew, it can expose some things.

Fear has a way of putting on a blazer, carrying a clipboard, and calling itself wisdom.

Sometimes you have to look underneath it.

And Peace Doesn't Always Mean Easy

We've also created this idea that "I have peace about it" means a decision from God should feel calm, obvious, and comfortable.

I don't see that pattern consistently in Scripture.

Moses didn't exactly respond to the burning bush with, Absolutely, Lord. Public speaking sounds wonderful. I have such peace.

Gideon had questions. Jeremiah had objections. Jesus Himself experienced anguish in Gethsemane while remaining completely obedient to the Father.

Sometimes obedience is uncomfortable.
Sometimes the right decision scares you.
Sometimes God leads you somewhere and you have absolutely no clue how it's going to work.

I've had seasons where following God didn't feel peaceful in the sense of Oh good, nothing about this makes me nervous. The peace was underneath the nerves. It was knowing that even though I didn't know what happened next, I knew who I was following.

That's different.

Biblical peace isn't necessarily the absence of nerves. Sometimes it's confidence in God right in the middle of them.

Pay Attention to What It's Producing

Another thing I've learned to pay attention to is fruit.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that we recognize things by their fruit, and Galatians 5 gives us the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

So, when I'm trying to discern something, eventually I have to look at what it's producing.

Is this drawing me toward God or consistently pulling me away from Him? Is it producing humility, obedience, love, and greater dependence on Christ? Or am I becoming secretive, obsessive, bitter, prideful, divided, or isolated?

That doesn't mean every God-led decision immediately produces a lovely little basket of spiritual fruit.

Growth can be messy. Sometimes obedience exposes ugly things in us before those things get healed, but over time, fruit tells a story. Pay attention to it.

Please Don't Discern Everything Alone

This is probably not the answer anybody wants when they're hoping God will just give them a yes or no, but sometimes you need another human being.

A wise one.

One of the things we talked about in the larger Spiritual Warfare study is how dangerous isolation can become. When you're alone with your own thoughts long enough, you can talk yourself into almost anything.

I need people in my life who know God, know Scripture, and know me well enough to say, "Stacy, I love you, but I don't think that's the Lord. I think that's your fear talking."

We all need people like that. Not just people who say, whatever makes you happy!

Listen, I can make myself happy doing all kinds of dumb things. 😂 Happiness is not always the standard.

We need people who care more about our obedience to God than validating whatever we've already decided we want to do.

Of course, then we have to actually listen when they tell us something we don't want to hear.

That's usually the fun part.

Sometimes the Answer Is: You Don't Know Yet

I do not enjoy this answer. Maybe you don't either, but not every decision needs to be solved by 4:00 this afternoon.

There have been times I've created this enormous sense of urgency around hearing from God.

I HAVE TO KNOW.

But do I? Or am I just really uncomfortable not knowing?

Those are two different things.

If you don't have clarity and there isn't a genuine deadline, you are allowed to wait. Keep praying. Stay in Scripture. Ask God for wisdom. Keep doing the last thing you know He asked you to do.

James 1:5 says that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God, who gives generously.

We don't have to yank an answer out of Him, and sometimes, when we finally get to the other side of a waiting season, we realize the waiting was part of what He was doing all along.

A Word About "Signs"

Okay. Christians love a sign.

And I'm not saying God cannot use circumstances, of course He can, but we can also make almost anything a sign when we're desperate enough for an answer.

Lord, if I'm supposed to do this, let the next car I see be blue.

Please don't make the poor Honda Civic responsible for your life decisions.

Circumstances can absolutely confirm what God is doing, but they should not replace Scripture, prayer, wisdom, and discernment.

If your entire decision is resting on a coincidence while everything else points in another direction, slow down.

God doesn't need you to become a spiritual detective looking for secret codes in your grocery receipt. Know Him. That's still the safest place to begin.

The More You Know the Truth, the Easier It Is to Spot the Lie

If you've been following this Spiritual Warfare series, you've probably noticed that we keep circling back to the same thing:

Truth matters.

The enemy is a deceiver. His strategy depends on getting us to agree with something that isn't true.

That's how a suggestion eventually becomes a spiritual stronghold. A thought gets entertained, believed, repeated, and eventually woven into the way we see ourselves or the way we see God.

Discernment interrupts that process.

When the thought says, God has abandoned you, knowing His character lets you say, no, that doesn't sound like Him.

When shame says, you're permanently disqualified, you can recognize condemnation for what it is.

When fear says, You cannot possibly do what God is asking, you can remind yourself that being afraid and being outside God's will are not the same thing.

This is why knowing Scripture isn't about winning Bible trivia.

It's how we learn the real thing so well that the counterfeit starts looking obvious.

You Don't Have to Be Terrified of Getting It Wrong

If you're reading this because you genuinely want to obey God but you're terrified you're going to miss Him, I want you to remember something.

God is a Father.

He's not hiding His will behind a bush somewhere waiting to see whether you can solve the clues correctly.

He's not standing there going, Gotcha! You thought I said left, but I actually said right.

If your heart is genuinely surrendered to Him, keep seeking Him. Stay in His Word. Pray. Ask for wisdom. Invite wise people into the process. Pay attention to the fruit.

And if you realize you got something wrong? Go back to Him.

I've gotten things wrong. You've gotten things wrong. Every person in Scripture except Jesus got things wrong. Thank goodness we serve a God who redirects people.

If every imperfect decision permanently removed us from God's plan, we'd all be toast.

Discernment isn't trusting yourself to hear perfectly.

It's trusting God enough to keep listening.

So...Was It God, Me, or the Enemy?

Sometimes you'll know immediately.
Sometimes you'll need to sit with it.
Sometimes you'll realize it was your own fear talking. Sometimes Scripture will expose a lie almost as soon as you hold the thought up against it. And sometimes you'll move forward in faith without ever receiving the giant flashing neon sign you were hoping for.

That's okay.

The goal isn't to become obsessed with correctly labeling the source of every single thought that enters your mind.

The goal is to become so familiar with God's truth and God's character that whatever you're hearing has somewhere solid to be tested.

You don't need to know every counterfeit.

Know the real thing.

The closer you walk with Him, the more you'll recognize His character, His truth, and the gentle ways He has been leading you all along.

Keep Going Deeper

Spiritual Warfare Deep Dive Study

If you're beginning to recognize that there's more happening beneath the surface, start with What Is Spiritual Warfare? How to Recognize and Fight It Biblically for the bigger picture of how spiritual warfare can show up in everyday life.

If thoughts are where you struggle most, Can Satan Control Your Thoughts? What the Bible Actually Says digs into the difference between influence and control and what it means to take your thoughts captive.

And if you're realizing there are beliefs you've carried for years without ever questioning them, What Is a Spiritual Stronghold? How to Recognize and Break Strongholds Biblicallywill help you identify how those beliefs form and begin replacing them with God's truth.

If you're ready to sit down with Scripture and really work through these patterns, the Spiritual Warfare Deep Dive Studywalks you through the biblical teaching and practical application so you can recognize the enemy's tactics without becoming consumed by them.

Because discernment was never supposed to make you spend your whole life looking for the enemy.

It's supposed to keep you looking at Jesus.