God speaks to us all the time by the Holy Spirit. He, The Spirit, is always speaking but we don’t always listen, or maybe we don’t know how to listen. A precaution: let me remind you that if you are a born again Christian you are a new creature in Christ Jesus. The old has passed away and all things have become new. (2Cor. 5:17) God’s Spirit is living in you (Rom, 8:9-11 ). You don’t have to fear that if you try to hear God’s voice you're being too subjective. The fear of being subjective hinders some Christians from listening to the Lord’s voice. Remember you are a new creature in Christ Jesus. Old things have passed away; all things have become new.

So now let me share a real life experience. I was encouraged by the way God worked, and I think you may be as well. Severe pain catapulted me into the doctors' office. I believe God uses medical doctors. Luke, one of Jesus’ disciples, was a physician. The doctor told me I would need surgery and so scheduled the surgery in three weeks. About a week later, I received a call from the doctors' office telling me I needed to come in for a pre-surgical physical. I did, and the doctor told me he had discovered other problems. I would need more extensive surgery. Suddenly the words that a Christian friend spoke to me years before came to mind: “If the Holy Spirit is at peace you will be at peace; but if the Holy Spirit is troubled you will be troubled.” I was troubled. I didn’t know why. He was the doctor, I wasn’t. As far as I knew there was no sound reason for me to be troubled. It didn’t make sense.

I didn’t know why my spirit was troubled but God knew. I prayed, asking God for wisdom and then felt led to do a little medical research. I looked up the symptoms I should be experiencing to validate my doctor’s additional findings. To my surprise, I didn’t have any. I called my doctor’s office and talked to his nurse. I told her that I had done some research and knew for sure that I wasn’t having any of the symptoms that would mandate a more extensive surgery. She commented, “Of course you know that the additional surgery would just be elective” That remark revealed to me the action God wanted me to take. That was God’s answer for me. I told her that I would sign the surgical consent, but not to include the more extensive surgery. I had the surgery and six weeks later got a second opinion. The second opinion was that I never, ever needed a “more extensive surgery.” The Spirit of God troubled my spirit and saved me from more physical pain, a longer recovery, and higher medical bills.

Now I have a question for you. Permit me to do a little meddling. What about that relationship you desire? You’ve figured out how it would work, but you’re troubled. Or what about that new home you want to buy. You’ve even figured out how you could make the payments, but your spirit is troubled. Maybe it's that new job offer. You could make more money. You’ve reasoned the whole thing out and the opportunity is excellent, but you are troubled. He, the Spirit, wants to communicate with you. He wants to lead you and guide you into all truth. He wants to save you from the mess that you can get yourself in. Ask the Lord to give you ears to hear what He is speaking. He really has your best in mind. In the long run you’ll be a lot happier if you listen for his speaking and obey his voice. Remember, if the Holy Spirit is at peace you will be at peace but if the Holy Spirit is troubled you will be troubled.

*Scripture references to New King James Version.