Have you ever wondered, “How do I know if the Lord is speaking to me?”  Or, similarly, “How do I recognize the voice of God?”—as opposed to your own thoughts, the devil disguising himself as an “angel of light”, or even the spicy pizza you ate last night? 

The first way is to get close enough to Him in relationship to distinguish His voice from others.  Any of us with loved ones can attest to the ability to pick out that special person’s voice from the midst of the hubbub in a crowded room, without them speaking loudly.  And Scripture confirms this:

“’His [the shepherd’s]sheep follow him because they know his voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice…I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.’”  Jn. 10:4-5, 14

Second, we know He won’t contradict or disagree with Himself, so we compare that internal thought or external advice with His own Word, the Bible.

Then, if we’re still uncertain, we enlist wise, godly, counsel to help us determine if we’re hearing from the Lord or not.

But here’s where our expectations can sometimes get in the way of recognizing that it’s Him speaking to us.  For example, in the Bible, the little boy Samuel didn’t expect the Lord to speak directly to him because he was still so young. And Eli the priest, his mentor, didn’t get it at first either. (see 1 Sam. 3:1-10)

Later in Scripture, one of God’s own prophets, Balaam, heard from Him through a messenger he least expected—his donkey!  Of course, who among us would ask our domestic animals for the latest message from the Lord?  (see Num. 22:21-33)

Ok, so now we know the Lord speaks to priests through little children and to prophets through animals, but how about us?

Where do we expect to hear from Him?  In church?  In a prayer meeting?  Through a preacher’s sermon?  At a worship fest?  Conference?  Christian concert?  In our daily devotional with Him?  While walking in the midst of His beautiful creation?

We do hear from Him all these ways and places and rightfully expect to.  But what about ways and places we don’t expect to, such as our non-believing colleague, roommate, friend, parent, spouse?  Or harder yet, through obviously sinful people?  Or perhaps the hardest, through members of the political party we loathe?(!)

I can’t cite cases for all of these, but I do know it’s possible for the Lord to speak through anyone He decides to appoint as His messenger.  I can also give you one modern-day instance in my own history—when the Lord spoke through my mom:

My mom, rest her soul, was a wonderful lady who had a general belief in God but not a relationship with Jesus.  Therefore, although I loved and respected her, I didn’t expect her to be a conduit of the Lord’s voice to me for my life. 

He proved me wrong and broadened my expectation of where I could hear from Him.  It happened in the spring of my senior year of college.

Knowing that I’d planned to go on to graduate school, I also knew I needed a summer job to pay for that, and had no idea where to get one.  Jobs were scarce in those recession days, and it didn’t help that our school year ended later than almost everyone else’s. 

That’s when an opportunity came that I was sure was straight from the Lord as the answer to my prayers— a job offer with a publishing company to sell Bibles and other Christian literature in a small town.  Never mind that the only thing I’d ever sold before were Girl Scout cookies and that not very well! 

I figured this had to be a “God thing”, given the product and the opportunity.  On top of that, I’d be assigned to a small town, housed together with a couple of other Christian reps.  All the better, I thought—great fellowship, rural environment, and culture!

Only one problem—my mom didn’t like the idea.  My dad had passed away from cancer the year before, so she was the top human authority in my life.  And I didn’t want to hurt or rebel against her. 

But what about Acts 5:29 when the Apostles told the Jewish government leaders, “’We must obey God rather than human beings!’”?  My heart was torn.  Out of love for my mom I didn’t quote that Scripture to her.

Instead, I trusted the Lord that if this opportunity were really from Him, He’d work on my mom’s heart.  He had a different plan—to use her to speak to me!

The day before the deadline to sign the contract, my mom called me long distance—a costly thing in the days before cell phones.  Plus, the internet didn’t exist yet in the 1980s.  But my mom did some serious investigative research without it, including calling the Better Business Bureau to find out more about this company.

So, when she called, she was well-armed with solid evidence that neither this company nor the opportunity were what her naïve daughter thought they were.  I respectfully heard her out, asked a few questions, and thanked her for all the information.

Then I prayed. And considered— could the Lord be warning me away from that job through my mom?  “Yes”, came His still, small, voice in my heart.

I turned down that job, having no idea if anything else would come along, yet trusting the Lord that He would provide for grad school another way.  The following week word came of an opportunity that He clearly meant as a special love-gift to me— to work for the Finnish government as a live-in English tutor in Finland most of the summer.

Why was that so special?  Not only would they pay my airfare, free room and board, and a stipend, I’d be returning to the very country I’d gone to as an exchange student in high school four years earlier.  That meant going back to the rural culture, surroundings, and beloved people who introduced me to Jesus when I was there!  I spent the last few weeks of that summer visiting my dear host-family, friends, and youth-group pastor who introduced me to the Lord and demonstrated His love for me.  

There was no way I could have done that financially or time-wise if the Lord hadn’t provided this opportunity.  I couldn’t have gotten that opportunity if I hadn’t turned down what appeared to be the “perfect” job.  I wouldn’t have turned that down if I hadn’t listened to my mom. Realizing that the Lord could speak through anyone changed my life.

How about you?  The next time someone, anyone, speaks into your life, give it a hearing.  If you’re really listening for God’s voice, you may be hearing it through them.  And if your dog or cat starts speaking your language, you really better listen up!