EP 15 Are You Hearing From God? Is the Holy Spirit Leading Your Steps in Your Life? For the Professional Working Mom Wife God-Led Business

EP 15 Are you Hearing from God? Is Holy Spirit Leading your in your Steps in Your Life?

So I think a lot of times when people that are in have not been as intentional, uh, or just don't really know how to hear from God or whether they're hearing, hearing from God, sometimes this feels a little bit, um, woo is the only word I can think of, although that's more like a new age word, but, uh, more, you know, all this high-level stuff that, you know, you think that you're going to hear this boisterous voice from the cloud saying, thus, say it the Lord. And you know, that's not exactly what I'm talking about. Now. There could be ways that people hear from God in that way, but I want to start with giving you a few tips on how you can start intentionally listening and hearing from God.

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Welcome back sisters to this episode of Wholly Made Life, where we're going to talk about the spiritual piece of our pie. We're going to talk about, are you hearing from God, are you letting the Holy spirit lead you in your daily steps? But before we get into some simple things that you can do to really hear from God and really focus on those steps that are led by the Holy spirit, I want to let you know that this episode is sponsored by a company that I love. I have gotten several daily planners from these guys and, um, devotionals, uh, and they, right now, they are launching an Easter devotional and I highly recommend it. I just got mine in the mail. I have a $10 off coupon for you, if you would like to go and take a look, they are amazing. It's amazing quality.

I've actually purchased a couple planners for some of my friends for Christmas, and they absolutely love them. It is really aligned with the message that I talk about as far as having a wholly made life.  These devotionals, that daily planners really help to keep you focused and in a very intentional and deliberate way on the Holy spirit on God and on who it is, you are meant to become the soap devotionals that they have on their site that you'll see have different focuses that you can focus on, like rest leadership, trust, surrendering. Those are just some examples, but it helps the prompts help you focus on something for the day for the week, and you can use it however you want to use it, but it does help you focus on who it is that you are intentionally trying to become based on who you feel you're called to be.

Uh, so this is Easter devotional, like I said, it's just now being launched! Go to https://devotional.atrogers.com. Once again, https://devotional.atrogers.com.. That's how you can get your $10 off. All right. So let's get into today's episode where we're going to talk about, are you hearing from God? 

So the very first thing you want to think about is your relationship with God. Just think about if you will, your best friend, think about how you interact with your best friend, how you interact with someone who is, uh, a trusted person in your life. Maybe it's your husband. Maybe it's a really good friend. Maybe it's a pastor. Uh, maybe it's a teacher. So someone that you have a very trusted relationship with, think about how you talk to that person, how it's just real and genuine. Someone, someone that you feel comfortable with, someone that you feel like you can tell some of your secrets to, uh, you can process some of those feelings and thoughts with that. You can't always process with someone else, well, relationship in which you feel comfortable and safe sharing. Well, that's the same thing that God wants with us sisters.

That's what he wants with us. He wants us to have a relationship with him in much the same way, where we feel safe with him and comfortable. And we feel trusting enough to share all of our feelings, our fears, our doubts, our questions, our angers, uh, everything that we might talk about with a friend. He wants us to have that same conversation with him. So you think about these relationships that you've had that are trusting and that are really good, safe relationships. They're ongoing. If you're thinking about your best friend or your husband, you wouldn't think twice about picking up the phone and calling that person and letting them know, Oh my gosh, just guess what happened to me today? Here's what it is. And you just wouldn't second thought that at all right? You wouldn't give a second thought to that. So the same thing needs to happen with God.

So the same things that you're wanting to talk to your girlfriend about, or your husband about, um, those are the things that you want to talk to God about. And yes, it's different because that person is not right there on the other end of the phone or in physical sense. But God's there all the time and his relationship with you. He wants it to be ongoing. He wants it to be intimate. He wants you to talk to him. And the only way, if you think about it, the only way that you can hear from someone is to talk to them. Okay? Now certainly we can write letters, which you can do when you journal. Uh, you can pray all of those things, but if you want to hear from someone, you gotta be having a conversation. Okay. And you also have to stop talking long enough to listen.

So that's the other key. Talk to God on a daily basis, make it an ongoing relationship and talk to him just like you would anybody else. And also, uh, stop talking long enough to listen to what he might be saying to you. So that's one number one. Talk to him. Number two, sit still and listen. And I'll talk a little bit further in a little bit about how you can listen, because it might not just be with your ears. Okay? So the second thing I want you to think about, so you're going to talk and you're going to listen. The second thing I want to talk to you about is, think about what your motive is. Why do you want to hear from God? What is it that you are yearning for? Is it relationship? Is it just to be close to him just to know that he's present with you at all times, or is it only when you need something from him?

When you're asking something from him, think about your friendships and your, your spouse soul relationship. Again, if you're only going to those people, when you need something, that relationship is not real reciprocal. Is it? You don't just call your friends when you need something from them. Do you? Because if you're just always going to your friend, when you need something, then that friend doesn't really receive anything from you and God wants to receive from you too. He doesn't want you just to come to him when you need something, he wants to receive your love, your presence, your acknowledgement, your thanks, your praise. Um, just like your friend would, you know, your friend wants you to call just to check on her sometimes. Hey, how are you? How was your week? How's your mother,

Those kinds of, uh, reasons

To your friends. And of course the relationship with her husband certainly has to be reciprocal. You have to have a two-way relationship. And so God wants the same thing. So think about when you're thinking, man, I want to hear from God. Is it only in those times that you need something for him, from him, or you need an answer or you don't know the answer. So you're wanting him to give you the answer or is it an ongoing relationship? That's two way you talk to him, whether you want something or not, you talk to him and give him praise and thanks every day, whether you want something or not, or whether you need something or not. Okay. So think about it that way. Think about the relationship that you have with him as being this two way reciprocal relationship. The next thing is, are you willing to really hear from him?

What if you hear from him, something that makes you uncomfortable or that challenges you in some way, are you really willing to, when you do hear something from him to be obedient and do what it is he's asking you to do, that is something that I think is even more challenging than just having that daily conversation with him. When you finally do hear something that is challenging or outside of your comfort zone, what are you going to do with that? So I would recommend that you pray for strength and wisdom and discernment, and you asked for the ability to be obedient enough and strong, bold enough, courageous enough to when you hear him. And it's not exactly what you thought it would be to be bold and courageous enough to take that step. Recently, one of the very most challenging things that I have ever, ever heard from God was to resign my position as chief nursing officer.

Now, this is a longer story than what I had time for here on this episode. And I'll probably do kind of a second part to this so that you can hear the whole thing originally. I was just feeling restless and I really loved leading and building my team in my nursing environment. I really loved that. That's my favorite thing. I love building teams and helping people grow. I just felt restless for some reason, though. It started a while back, but it's something that I just didn't really pay attention to. I actually intentionally kind of pushed it back. They ignored it. And as those feelings got stronger and as I continue to have my relationship with God, I talked to him about, I started to ask him, why am I feeling like this? Why am I feeling so restless? I started to hear from him in different ways when I actually heard the loudest was when I was forced to be the stillest and the quietest that I've ever had to be in my life.

So in July, late July, I was diagnosed with COVID. When I was diagnosed with COVID, I of course had to quarantine and I had to be in my room. I could not be a mom. I could not be a wife. I could not serve in my church. I could not work. And I have worked all of my life since I was 14. I have worked, I have had a job. And until I became a director in a nursing position, I had two or three jobs. I just worked. That's what I knew. That's what I did. It's part of my outward explanation of who I am and seeking that worthiness. That's what I did for just so long of my life. My success at work was something that made me feel worthy. And so when these things were stripped away from me where I couldn't be mom, I couldn't be wife.

Couldn't serve in my church. I could, there were no sports going on. Um, and then I couldn't work. I couldn't lead. I couldn't fix systems. I couldn't answer questions. I mean, I was completely cut off. I had no computer access. I was no longer on call 24 seven. I was just left with myself. And so I was forced to be the most still and the most quiet that I've ever been in my life. Now, granted, I was sick for about two weeks. And so I just slept and rested. You know, it's funny how sometimes God will use those times. Not that he caused this, but he uses it for our good, he works all things together for our good, so I was resting and finally really focused on taking care of myself so that I could get better. And I wasn't tasked with taking care of anyone else.

And so what came from that was me thinking about, and I believe it was God asking me, who are you now? You're not just a mom. You're not just a wife. You don't just serve in your church. And you're not just a chief nursing officer. You're not just your title, your position, your salary. And so when he started asking me those questions, when he said, I know who you're not, but not who you are. I was dumbfounded because I didn't know who I was either. Now I've been on this journey of unbecoming for years, I'm becoming perfectionism. I'm becoming, uh, this little girl who felt so unworthy and who hated her body hated the way she looked and didn't feel like she ever compared or matched up to other people. I have been unbecoming all of those things and doing the work too, to really understand who it is that God says I am.

And so I've been diving into that word and repeating that there was a season where I wrote down everything I found in the Bible that God said that I am, and I wrote it down and I would read it. And I would say it out loud every single day. I did that for probably about a year so that I could be reminded of who it is. God says I am. But when he asked me that, I don't know, I know who you're not, but not who you are not because he doesn't know who I am, but because I still was finding myself in the titles and the positions and the tasks of what I do versus who I am. That's an example of what God has said to me that has challenged me to take some steps that were bold and creative courageous, because what that came down to was after now that didn't happen overnight.

Okay. That happened over a period of we're talking. I was restless for months, probably over a year. Life happened as things happen. And then as COVID hit and everything was stripped away, that's when it just got so loud, I could no longer ignore it. And there were a lot of other things that happen during this timeframe that really kind of solidified for me what it is I need to do to refocus my life at this time. It doesn't mean that I won't go back to doing what I was doing before. I will do it differently when, and if I go back saying, he said, leave it forever. But for this time and season, he was asking me to trust him and give up everything that I had worked for as an offering to him, my title, my position. I mean, I studied a long time to become a nurse.

So I then a lot of time and money, blood and sweat and tears, uh, getting to where I was as a chief nursing officer. I mean, for the long time, I had thought that my path was going to be chief nursing officer to chief operations. Uh, and then to chief executive officer, you know, he said to me, I will bless you and I will favor you as I always have, because you're my daughter. And I love you. And I've given you these gifts, okay? But this is not the path that I have for you right now in this season. And I have more, I will show you, but you have to trust me with the two things you've never trusted me with before. And that is your finances and the control of what's next. As I said, I've been working since I was 14. I have never ever quit a job without knowing what's next, in fact, without a promotion.

So I have never quit a job without a promotion. I have always taken a next position based on a promotion that I was giving. And of course those promotions, except for one time always came with a salary raise. And so I was at the highest peak that I had ever been financially. And the other piece to that is that our financial household, my husband works full time, but we're at the point where we need both of our salaries. We've got three kids in private school. Uh, Clayton had just started college. So that's a college tuition. And we have our house that we got. Uh, we were blessed with, that's a whole nother blessing story, cause we should not have qualified for this house that we're in. Um, but we have our house, we have our two cars, you know, so we've got bills that we have to pay.

And I have always felt because I was the oldest child because I had to take care of some things. I just have always felt the burden to carry that, um, to carry my part, at least to carry my part, to make sure that we're okay. And with that comes my own trust in myself and my works versus trusting that God knows, and God has plans and God will provide. And so I had never given that to him, the most sacrificial offering I could give would be my title, which meant so much to me because of all the outward achievements that I I strived for throughout my life. So the title and the position itself meant something to me because I made it mean something to me. I made it mean something that was a worldly, something, not a biblical, something like that's pretty cool. When you say you're a chief nurse of something in this world, but that doesn't mean anything in heaven.

You know? So it was this sacrificial offering of giving him my title and position, but also the finances then thirdly, was the control, the lack of control, then not knowing, okay, God, if I take this step and I resigned my position without knowing what's next, that makes me crazy. Like I don't, that was the hard, hard, hard thing. I mean, I don't do those kinds of things. Um, so after lots of prayer and after lots of confirmations, I finally decided to take that step and resign. Okay. So let's get back to our goal of wanting to hear from God. One of our, instead of our goal being, you just want to hear from God, you need something. It should be about developing that mature spiritual relationship with God, a daily ongoing conversation that happens as you do this, he will reveal to you in ways that you can hear and notice.

So the question becomes, how do you hear from him? How do you hear, how is it when you hear me saying, Oh, I heard God say, was it aloud, audible voice? Was it like thunder and lightning? Well, it wasn't. So there's some different ways that you can hear. Some people do hear a loud audible voice at times. Uh, some people see it in dreams. Some people have visions. Some people say they see angels or have an encounter with an angel. Some people say that they experience a miraculous event. A lot of the times what happens is that they come in your own thoughts. The thoughts that you get are sometimes the way that God speaks to you. I remember we were on a trip with my pastor and she was preaching at a small church. And I remember asking her because she's very prophetic. I remember asking her, how do you know if you're hearing from God?

And I explained to her a situation where I was getting ready to pray for someone. And I got a thought in my head that said, pray for this girl. She's sad. She's in some darkness, she needs to know the light of the Lord. Um, and so those were thoughts that were in my head about a girl that I didn't know. I just felt drawn to her. And I felt, and I, and I kept thinking, she's depressed. She's sad. She needs some joy. She needs a, you need to pray that joy is restored for her. So I went ahead and I was obedient to that, to those thoughts. And I went up to her and I talked to her and I prayed using the words that the thoughts were bringing to my head about restoring joy and light and finding small things that she can rejoice in.

And, you know, I don't even remember everything. And that's the thing when you, when you're obedient, sometimes when you pray for someone, it's not really your words, it's just whatever the words are that that person needed to hear. So it was just a thought in my head and it was a feeling and a knowing a draw, a pole. And so I talked to my pastor about that. She said, yeah, that's how you're hearing from him. Just lean into that and practice listening and being more intentional and being obedient when you hear those thoughts. So you're, you're not hearing with your ears, you're, you're having a thought. And then you're having a feeling of knowing or a pulling or a drawing that you need to be obedient to this. You need to do this. It's the same thing when I'm like my child, my youngest Bryson, when we're driving.

And if there's someone that's on the side of the street and they, maybe they have a sign for something. And he says, mom, I think I want to give him my McDonald's or whatever that is him following what the Holy Spirit's nudging him to do. And does he get that every single time? No, he doesn't. So that's how you know that it's, it's a drawing. It's a, it's a, it's a way to hear from the Lord. It's a way to hear from God from the Holy spirit, nudging you to do something that feels a little bit uncomfortable sometimes. Okay. So there's a knowing, there's a feeling there's a thought, and there's a piece about that. And the more you listen and have conversations with God, the more you start to have these thoughts. And then for me, the thoughts then start to get confirmed. Now, some of those thoughts like this one, when I'm talking about praying for this girl that just happened.

And so I was obedient and I did it, but there were other thoughts such as the one that I need to resign my position that took me months to be brave and bold enough to gain the courage to do. But through those months, as I continue to have the daily conversations with him about, are you really asking me to do this? Like this doesn't make any sense. I am scared. I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to take a step without knowing the step I'm taking, but that's the whole point of faith, right? And trust. And that's the whole point of what he's asking us to do. So that's the other thing is that, you know, if the thoughts that are coming to you that are continually, repeatingly coming to you and even being confirmed in other ways, if those are in alignment with what the word of God says, then you can trust that that is God leading you.

So, you know, I did a lot of digging and it about faith and trust and, you know, handing things up to him and those all confirming alignment with what it is, was he was asking me to do it, think about this. This goes back to what we've talked about in other episodes, as far as thoughts go, uh, because we've talked about how we need to be intentional and deliberate about our thought life and making sure that what we're feeding our right mind is as much as possible in alignment with the word of God, because the more that we're in alignment, the better we can hear and recognize when he's trying to speak to us, reading the word is another way to, um, not only get closer to him and build more relationship with him, but also to confirm the thoughts that are coming to your mind, study the word, had these thoughts, and they were confirming the thoughts to be in alignment with the word.

If you're not clear on something, if you feel like you've had these thoughts and you're in the word and they feel in alignment, and you're not clear yet, you can ask God, just ask him, say, God, make this clear for me. Give me a confirmation, help me feel at peace with what it is that I feel like you're telling me to do. Based on the thoughts that I continue to have another example for me, as far as confirmation was, once I had gotten to the place where I decided, okay, I'm going to resign the day that I went in, I was returning from actually taking my son to Arizona to drop him off for college. I was returning from that time being off, I went to work in the first person that I spoke with came and she gave me a birthday present. And my, my birthday had been about a month prior.

She just hadn't gotten it yet. And she says to me, God told me that you needed this. And it was a plaque with some scripture on it that said, and I don't have it in front of me right now, but basically trust me without borders, spirit lead me where there's no borders to the trust. And there's a song for that too. So I'm sure you guys are, some of you are remembering what that song is, but it was about trusting him when there are no borders. And immediately I knew I had made the right decision and I went in and I gave my resignation that day. Uh, now I gave them notice and such, you know, I did the right thing. I had already known in my heart that I needed to do that, but I was still scared and I was still nervous about doing it.

But when she came to me and she says to me, God told me you needed this. And so this is what I got for you. It was a plaque talking about trusting him when there are no borders where I don't know where I'm walking now that was straight confirmation. And so immediately I lost it. I started crying. And of course she was like, I don't know why you needed this, but, and I said, well, I do. I know that's an example of a confirmation that might come outside of your thoughts. Maybe it's a song that pops on the radio. Maybe it's something one of your kids says to you. My kids confirm things for me all the time and they don't know what they're doing. God knows, you know, he's leading them. It's just one of those things where once you get to a point where you are hearing those things, you will get those confirmations.

And then as you mature in that relationship and you start to lean in and be more obedient, you will hear from him and feel more solid in those things. Feel more at peace without needing all of the additional confirmations. We've talked through this thing about hearing from God, and it's about, uh, building the relationship. Okay? Let's just recap. You want to build that relationship with him. You want to talk to him every day. You want to be in his word every day. You want to have an ongoing conversation with him, just like you would with your friend or your spouse. You want to make sure that that continues whether you need something or not. And you want to assess whether or not you're really ready to hear from him because he'll only give us what we are ready to hear. Like if he had told me that five years ago, honey, that would not happen.

I was not mature enough for that. I wasn't ready for that. So I don't want people looking or hearing this from me thinking, Oh my gosh, she's so grateful. But no, listen, I just wasn't mature enough in the past to hear about this. So it comes with maturity. It comes with your walk, your constant walk, your ongoing walk. And I'm still walking this thing out every single day. There's days that I throw my hands up. And I'm like, I have no idea what I'm doing. I have no idea. I don't know what's next. What are you going to show me? What's next? Okay. So it's a relationship. It's an ongoing relationship. Okay. And it's a trust that I am listening and I am doing everything I can to be as obedient as I can. Anytime. I feel like I'm hearing the next step from, from him.

Uh, and by the way, this podcast was one of those steps. And it's weird to think about, Oh, God told me to start a podcast, but the podcast just kept popping up and popping up. And there were lots of different confirmations along the way that made me realize, okay, start a podcast. And the same thing was I don't, what do you want me to start a podcast about? I don't know what to talk the talk about. Um, but you know, I just am obedient and whatever, he I'm trying to follow what he leads me to talk about. Relationship, making sure that your motive is good and that you're wanting to him to be present and just be real in your life. Uh, being willing to, when you do here, take those bold and courageous steps that he's asking you to take using wisdom and discernment and the word, okay.

You, you have to be responsible and use wisdom and discernment. That was my prayer for months. Let me have the wisdom and discernment to make a decision that impacts my family financially. Um, ultimately for me, it was the right decision and he is providing, you know, that might not be what he's asking you to do. So you just have to know what he's asking you to do and use wisdom and discernment in that. Um, making sure that what it is that the thoughts that are coming into your head or what it is you feel like you're hearing is in alignment with the word. And, uh, then making sure that you're intentional to sit still and listen, and then be obedient when you hear it. The last thing is to write things down. He has been urging me to write it down, write it down, write it down, everything.

So when you feel like you're hearing from him, maybe it's a daily journal. Maybe it's using a devotional and you're journaling in that daily devotional, but write things down so that you can keep track of what it is you feel like you're hearing from him. You know, if you've got these thoughts, come into your mind that you feel like, uh, you know, Holy spirit is that you then write it down and you can go back and you can see a pattern. You can see a record of the seasons that he's brought you through. Maybe it's a walk through maturity spiritually. So make sure that you write it down. We will see you on the next episode.

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