The room was full of people engaged in many different conversations, yet I heard it from clear across the room. I heard it not because it was loud, but because it was distinctive. I have heard it a million times before and can pick it out anywhere. It is subtle, sweet and very special.
It’s my wife’s laugh.
I have learned to discern Anne’s laugh, and obviously her voice for that matter. Play me the recordings of a thousand voices, or a thousand laughs, and I can pick out my wife’s. I know her tones, her intonations, her language, her inflections – I simply know her voice. I know what she sounds like. You cannot convince me that another voice is hers.
Why? Because we have spent thousands of hours in conversation. I have listened to her for decades. I have learned to discern her voice.
When we first met over 36 years ago I was not as familiar with her voice. I could easily have mistaken her voice for another when in a room amongst competing voices. However, the more time we spent together the more I got to know her. I not only became familiar with the sound of her voice, but the content of her speech.
There is a certain kind of language Anne uses, and a certain kind of language she doesn’t use. I am very confident there are many things I will never hear my wife say, words she will not use and expressions she will not utter.
Why am I so confident? Because I know her character. She has demonstrated consistent character for decades.
I know her voice and I know her character.
I would bet there are people in your life who are the same for you. Perhaps your spouse? A parent? A sibling? A friend? People you have spent time with so you know what they sound like and what values they bring to their speech.
So, how do we learn to discern the voice of the Lord in a similar fashion to that which I have described about my wife’s voice?
We know that our spiritual enemy engages in a Whisper Campaign of lies set against our heart to steal, kill and destroy all the life Jesus has for us. We must learn to discern that voice. And, we know that the Lord whispers words of life into our heart. We must learn to discern His voice.
How do we tell the difference between the two voices?
Here are some insights into how to do that I recently read in a daily devotional. It has been adapted from Come To Me © 2002 Discovery House Publishers, written by Elaine Martens Hamilton and Kathy Escobar:
When the Lord speaks to us it will be consistent with scripture. It will be consistent with His nature and character. It will lead to change, growth, hope, healing, encouragement, faith, restoration, peace, contentment, motivation, conviction, repentance or many other elements consistent with the nature and character of God.
When the enemy speaks it will be accusational, mocking or condemning and create fear, anxiety, despair, discouragement, guilt, shame, hopelessness, weakness, defeat, and many other elements that are consistent with the nature and character of our enemy – and contrary to that of God.
The Lord encourages; the enemy discourages. The Lord creates hope; the enemy hopelessness. The Lord brings conviction, which leads to repentance, which leads to life. The enemy brings condemnation, which leads to guilt and shame, which leads to death.
The only way we are going to learn to discern the voice of God amongst the Whisper Campaign of the enemy is to spend time with Him. Get alone with Him. Listen in prayer. Get to know Him. Get to know the character of God. Study how He has revealed Himself to His people through scripture.
Commune with Him.
Jesus said that His people know His voice. We familiarize ourselves with the voice of God by communing with Him, listening in prayer and studying His character through scripture.
We recognize a counterfeit by being familiar with the authentic. We identify lies, by knowing the Truth.
We learn to discern the voice of God by spending time with Him listening, and in His Word.
Jeremiah 33:3
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
John 10:27
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
1 Kings 19:12, 13
“After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?'”