32. The #1 Reason Christians Struggle to Discern God’s Will (And How to Fix It)

32. The #1 Reason Christians Struggle to Discern God’s Will (And How to Fix It)
Believe & Become | Christian Community, Devotions, Biblical Encouragement, Discernment, God's Will
32. The #1 Reason Christians Struggle to Discern God’s Will (And How to Fix It)

Feb 12 2026 | 00:32:35

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Episode 32 February 12, 2026 00:32:35

Show Notes

Do you feel stuck when it comes to discerning God’s will?
Like you know God cares about the decision in front of you—but you’re not hearing Him clearly?

You’re not alone.

In this episode, we talk about the number one reason believers struggle to discern God’s will—and it might surprise you. The issue isn’t that God isn’t speaking. It’s that many of us don’t realize how He’s speaking… or we’re too distracted, overwhelmed, or disconnected to notice.

Through a personal story of stepping out of ministry, leaving stability, and following God into uncertainty, we unpack how learning to pay attention, find peace, and practice obedience transformed our ability to hear God clearly.

If you’re facing a decision, feeling overwhelmed, or longing to reconnect with God’s voice, this episode will give you practical steps—and hope.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Why God is speaking—even when it feels silent
  • How fear, responsibility, and distraction dull our spiritual awareness
  • The difference between waiting for a “big sign” and noticing God’s daily whispers
  • How peace is the starting point for discernment
  • Why paying attention to patterns (Scripture, people, impressions, timing) matters
  • How obedience—especially in small steps—builds confidence in hearing God
  • Why God’s goal is always relationship and intimacy, not pressure or perfection

Practical steps to discern God’s will more clearly:

  1. Start with peace – calm the chaos so you can hear clearly
  2. Make space for God – intentional time in His presence
  3. Pay attention – notice Scripture, conversations, songs, and patterns
  4. Write it down – track what God is highlighting
  5. Process with trusted people – wise counsel brings clarity
  6. Walk in obedience – even small steps matter
  7. Practice consistently – hearing God gets easier with practice

Encouragement from this episode:

God isn’t hiding His will from you.
He’s inviting you closer.

You were created to hear His voice, and He delights in guiding you—step by step—into the abundant life He promised.

Ready for clarity?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure how to discern God’s voice in your current season, we’d love to walk with you.

Learn more or book a coaching session at joshandcorina.com/coaching

God is speaking—right now.
The invitation is simply to slow down… and pay attention.

Overcome Limiting Beliefs Facebook Group

FREE 5-Steps To Overcome Limiting Beliefs PDF

Transformed by Truth book

40 Days to Peace devotional

Chapters

  • (00:00:00) - Why Hearing God Feels So Hard
  • (00:01:43) - Our Story: Fear, Busyness & Missed Clarity
  • (00:05:22) - When God Closed Doors to Get Our Attention
  • (00:09:29) - He’s Speaking… We’re Just Not Paying Attention
  • (00:14:32) - Distraction, Shutdown & Survival Mode
  • (00:23:47) - The Fix Part 1: Find Peace & Make Space
  • (00:26:52) - The Fix Part 2: Pay Attention, Obey & Practice
View Full Transcript

Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Do you feel like it's hard to discern God's will? Like you have a decision to make and you know God has an opinion but you're just not hearing him clearly? Well, you're not alone. Today we're talking about the number one reason Christians struggle to discern God's will. But don't worry, we won't stop there. Hang on till the end because we're going to give you the steps to fix it. Let's get started. [00:00:24] Speaker B: If you're tired of leading others while secretly battling doubt, discouragement and mental warfare. [00:00:29] Speaker A: And you want practical tools to renew your and walk boldly in your calling. [00:00:33] Speaker B: As a leader, you're in the right place. Welcome to Believe and Become. [00:00:37] Speaker A: We're Josh and Karina, your spirit filled coaches here to help you overcome those limiting beliefs and lead others confidently. [00:00:44] Speaker B: If you're ready to hear God's voice more clearly, to step into your purpose and find joy and strength in the. [00:00:49] Speaker A: Everyday silence those Bible app reminders judging you from your lock screen and let's jump in. Hey friend, here's a quick invitation before we dive in. If you're a spirit filled Christian in leadership, whether you're a pastor, business owner or a stay at home mom and you're feeling stretched thin, stuck and overthinking or unsure how to break through, what's holding you back? You are not alone. We would love to invite you to our brand new Facebook group, Overcome Limiting Beliefs for Christians in Leadership. It's a space for faith filled leaders like you to be refreshed and encouraged and equipped to renew your mind and lead from God's presence, not pressure. Inside you'll find community, practical guidance and uplifting conversations that help you step into greater clarity, peace and purpose. Come join us. Follow the link in the show notes. We'll meet you there. [00:01:43] Speaker B: Welcome. Believe and Become family. We're so glad that you're joining us on the podcast today. We have such a good episode today. I'm really excited. This one was really fun to plan and to just work out with Karina. We're talking about the number one reason Christians struggle to discern God's will and how to fix it. So we want to share a story with you. It was really my dream to go to ministry school for for a long time. Probably since we got married. [00:02:11] Speaker A: I probably before. [00:02:12] Speaker B: Probably before and to step into you know what what I felt like God had for me and but I was always too scared. You know, I was working full time as an engineer supporting our family, had a great job. We Were in ministry at our church leading worship. I was just too scared to. How. How could we possibly make that work? How could I. I felt like I needed to quit my job and to go to school and just make this big change, But I never could do it. Cause it just felt like too big of a change. We had too much responsibility, too many expectations. And so it felt like God was. Was leading me in a direction, but I just couldn't. Like, I couldn't hear what he was saying to me clearly enough to really make. Take that risk. [00:02:53] Speaker A: Yeah. And I would say throughout that time, we were busy. We had lots of responsibilities at church, at work, at home. We started having kids. We started getting more responsibilities at church with leading Bible studies and teaching and doing different things. Our music ministry grew. And so it felt like there were so many people who were depending on us for certain things. And we wouldn't necessarily come home and have the time to sit with the Lord and talk to him about these things. It was more like, you know, get up and go until we get back into bed at night and have those few moments before we drift off to. To just kind of connect with Him a little bit. But it. It never felt like we had all this time to sit with the Lord. [00:03:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:35] Speaker A: And I think we felt like, okay, well, I prayed about it. I don't know what to do. I'm just gonna do what I think might be what God would tell me to do. Right. There was so much on our plates that felt overwhelming, I think. [00:03:46] Speaker B: Yeah. To take a risk like that. I needed, personally, God to speak very clearly. And so we went through a process of learning to hear God better, really seeking him, seeking his guidance for those. And paying attention to the little things that he was saying throughout the day, just in everyday life. Because I realized that God was actually speaking to me all the time. It was just a matter of whether or not I was really listening and paying attention to those things. Because once I started to get my brain ready to receive and pay attention to everything that was happening around me, things. The dots started to connect a little bit more. In 2020, God had led us to step out of ministry and leave our church. And that was a huge. But he kept continuing to pray together. And every time we just felt like, I think this is the move that God is wanting us to take. And we consulted actually with a coach who helped us get clarity on our different options and what the Lord was saying and what those implications were to us. And that that was really what started this whole process for us, was that conversation that we had with the coach, it was just one session that we had with him. But we got clarity to say, yes, this is the right move for us. This is what God is asking us to do. Even though it's really hard, you know, we didn't have any problems at our church. There was nothing forcing us out. And so when we kind. We started telling people, they're like, well, what happened? Nothing happened. We're just trying to follow the Lord. And everybody said, we're confident that you guys hear the Lord, so if he's telling you to do that, we support you. Which was huge. [00:05:22] Speaker A: Yeah. But it also felt at the same time like we were walking out of this place that was comfortable and familiar, that we knew where. It's like, you're walking out of your house into a dark hallway. We don't know what door is gonna open. We don't know where we're supposed to go. We just know we're supposed to follow the Lord into this new place of uncertainty. And that was. It was kind of scary. But what it did for us was eliminated distractions. It helped us close the doors on a lot of the expectations and responsibility that we were carrying so that we could begin to hear what God was saying. It. I mean, it took Covid, you know, in 2020 to kind of shut everything us to begin to find enough space in our lives to hear God even directing us and moving us. But it came with a lot of pain. And, like, we don't want to do this. We love our family and we want to be there. But really, it was super clear how he was leading us. And so we stepped into that hallway and trusted that he was going to lead us to the next steps. [00:06:24] Speaker B: Yeah, that was a stressful time, but the Lord really spoke in it. And I think there's something about getting you out of your comfort zone and your routine where the Lord word starts to speak if you're paying attention. So after we had left our church, just really realized that I needed peace in my life. I needed clarity, and I needed some tools to deal with my stress, the fears that I was experiencing, the anxiety that was holding me back. And so at Karina's very kind encouragement, she was actually very kind, but very clear to me. She's like, you need to get some help. I started talking to a counselor, and I think I only worked with him for a few months, but that helped so much to talk to another person to get perspective. He was a Christian counselor, and he just really helped me to lean into what the Lord was saying to get to a place where I had enough peace in my thoughts, in my mind, where I could clearly hear what God was saying to me. And that was huge. That helped me so much. And once I got to that place where my mind was calm, my body was calm, I could actually, like, I would be mowing the grass. And I felt like the Lord was saying, you should probably get the house ready to sell. And I'm like, why? Why would I do that? I don't. Okay. So I started doing some stuff, started working on the yard and getting stuff painted and cleaned out. And then he just continued to speak to me and say, you know, get ready, get ready. And then at one point, I was driving home from work one day, and the Lord said, it's time. And I went, it's time for what? But we knew, because the conversation that Karina and I have been having with the Lord was going to ministry school and quitting my job, selling the house and taking this huge move. He said, it's time. And it was time. Like, that was the moment that we really needed to start working. So we contacted a realtor. We set everything in motion, and the Lord worked all of that out step after step for us. And this has been the best decision we ever made. We have grown so much. We've seen things we never thought we would see. Miracles. Lord moves so powerfully. Yeah. And I don't regret a single moment of making that decision. Like, it was so worth it. [00:08:32] Speaker A: Yeah. And I would say that God was speaking to us all along from the first moment when you go, I think that I should go to ministry school, you know, 20 plus years ago, until we actually made the move. Like God was speaking all along. But I think often God is dropping hints through scripture, through people, and we just don't always realize it because we're so caught up in all the things that we talked about at the beginning. The risk, the fear, the responsibilities, the expectations. There's so much that goes into making decisions. But like Josh said, he was able to begin to see the pattern of what God was saying in those still small moments that he could have really easily overlooked. Like, you could be mowing the lawn and think, we should get the house ready and be like, that was weird. Why'd I think that? Keep mowing the lawn, never think about it again. But paying attention helped you to be. Begin to pull that thread through what God was trying to create in our lives. [00:09:29] Speaker B: Yeah. God is so good. He's. He's always speaking to us. He's speaking to you right now. And so the number one reason why believers have a tough time discerning God's voice is because he is speaking. But we don't realize it. We're not paying attention. And so there's a number of reasons why that might happen. Like, one might be that he's just speaking in a different way than we're used to. We might be expecting God to. God always speaks when I'm in my quiet time, after I worship for 15 minutes, and then I'm quiet and I hear his voice in my head, you know, or I always just know. I have this overwhelming sense of knowing what I'm supposed to do, or I'm used to, I'll see a picture in my mind, or there's always a scripture. There's a scripture that will jump off the page to me. And it's always that way. But sometimes God decides to stretch us and grow us and say, hey, I'm going to speak to you in a different way. So if that's not what you're used to, if you're not paying attention to that, you might not get it. He might speak through a friend. He might speak through you, to you through a song on the radio. Or your pastor might say something at church, or your friend texts you out of the blue and says, you know, I was thinking this. It's just something different than you're used to. And you go, oh, that was weird. And you dismiss it rather than saying, I need to pay attention. It's like Moses in the burning bush, right? He could have said, oh, my gosh, that's kind of weird. A burning bush in the middle of the desert, but it's not being consumed, and just kept on walking. But no, he turned and said, I'm gonna pay attention to this. Let's see if it's the Lord. Let's explore. [00:11:03] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think that is the thing. God brings different situations into our lives. He brings people. He brings little whispers that we get to decide, do I pay attention or do I keep going, right? Moses probably had something he was doing out there. He wasn't just wandering. So, recognizing that even in those moments when I'm doing my job, when I'm on my commute, when I'm washing dishes, whatever I'm doing, when I'm teaching my class, if there's something that seems unusual, maybe kind of like a coincidence, pay attention. Maybe there's a Bible verse that just keeps popping up, or. Or your friend that you haven't heard from in 10 years calls you and Says, hey, I've been thinking about you. Maybe God is speaking. And so learning to tune into him on whatever channel he decides to broadcast is so important. We need to keep our antennas up and really pay attention. God is that you. Confirm it in my heart. Show it to me again. Send me another scripture, another person, another word, so that I can know that it's you. And you'll begin to train your senses to be aware of him. Because just like he gave us five senses in our physical body, he gives us different senses in our spirit, and he can speak to us through any of those things. So we just need to be aware of what he's doing and paying attention to. Okay, maybe that. That was God. [00:12:22] Speaker B: Yeah. And we have to pay attention. Sometimes there's patterns. [00:12:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:26] Speaker B: And if we're not writing those down or at least paying attention to them, we might not pick up the patterns. It's like, well, I feel like God maybe said this. Then I read this verse, and then I heard this song. And once you kind of put all those little pieces of the puzzle together, then you start to see the bigger picture of. Because sometimes God is drawing us in. He's like, are you gonna pay attention to what I'm saying to you? Are you gonna spend that time with me to figure it out? Mm, let's figure it out together. And it's. He doesn't do it to be cruel. Like, sometimes we get a little frustrated with him. It's like, why won't you just tell me what to do? He's just drawing you in and saying, let's have fun together and let's be on this journey together. And I'm gonna hide little surprises for you to find throughout your day. [00:13:05] Speaker A: I think it's always about intimacy. It's always relationship with him. He's a relational God. And so it's always about, come a little bit closer. You've gotten used to hearing me in this one way, and that's beautiful, and I love that, and I'll continue to speak to you that way, But I want to show you a new side of me. And so let's. Let's draw closer. Let's lean in a little bit and see what I'm saying. [00:13:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And another thing is that sometimes life just happens. You know, Karina mentioned it. I mean, we were in survival mode for several years there. And that's understandable. When you have little kids, you have. You have babies, you're not sleeping much. You know, survival mode, that happens, and that's understandable. And God understands that. And Sometimes it's just chaos in our life because we have so much going on. It makes it really hard to hear God's voice, to really clue into what he's saying. And that's, that's certainly something I experienced with the busyness of life. It was hard to take enough time to slow down, to find some peace and really clue into what God was saying. And that, that actually was a pattern. I would have, it would get so chaotic that I would have to take a Sunday afternoon and just lock myself in my room, pray, journal, really seek after what the Lord was doing because I just, I couldn't survive on my own anymore. And that, that's not what God wanted for me. He has much better ways to deal with life where he sustains you and he. If his voice leads us every single day, that's what he really wants for us. [00:14:32] Speaker A: Yeah, and we understand if you are feeling overwhelmed, if you are worried about how am I going to get out from under all of this. If you feel stuck and discouraged and just depleted, you want to feel deeply connected to God again. You want freedom from those inner battles and emotional stability. We all want peace and we all want to know that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and it's going to be okay. But we don't always know how to get there. Just take a deep breath and we invite you to connect with God's peace right now. He has so much more for you. And really this is why we created our Clarity coaching program for people like you who feel depleted and overwhelmed and stuck and frustrated. We will guide you through this journey into freedom because we know what it feels like. We have been there too. So go to our website and you can book an app hour with us. We will lead you through our five step process to break free from lies so you can move forward with confidence. Our website is joshandkarina.com coaching that's J-O-S-H-A-N-C-O-R-I-N-A.com coaching we want to walk this journey with you and help you overcome that fear, discouragement, that overwhelm. Because we know that God has such good things on the other side of it. [00:15:45] Speaker B: And time and again we've needed help. I've needed help to go talk to somebody, talk to a coach, talk to a counselor, talk to a friend, a pastor. Sometimes just saying those things out loud to somebody that's impartial, God will just reveal it in the process of just speaking it out. And we see that time and again with our clients. And it is beautiful when the Lord just speaks into somebody's situation. The truth sets them free. It's incredible. One thing, sometimes I would just shut down. And a lot of times that's something that we do. We shut down. We're just, I'm gonna watch tv, I'm gonna binge watch some Netflix. You know, I'm stuck in social media. We have bad coping mechanisms. I'm eating too much, you know, not taking care of myself. And so it's really easy to shut down. And in that moment, it makes it really hard to hear God's voice because we have to be paying attention. Yeah. And we have to be growing our relationship with him, seeking after him. And he pro. He shows up. He promises if we seek him with our whole heart, he's gonna show up, he's gonna speak to us. But when we shut down, that's not healthy. [00:16:47] Speaker A: Well, it makes it harder for us to hear what he's saying. I think when we shut down, we're actually, what we're doing is we're shutting off our feelings because we don't want to feel that anymore. [00:16:56] Speaker B: Right. [00:16:56] Speaker A: I'm stuck in chaos. I'm stuck in overwhelm. I'm stuck in, in survival mode. And I don't know how to deal with it. So I'm just not going to deal with anything. And so we shut down and we disconnect. Right? That's really what you're doing. I'm disconnecting from the people around me. I'm disconnecting from my feelings. And we disconnect from God, really. We just kind of turn into a blob. Right. Couch potato. And you do the things for us, it was like we did the things we had to do. Especially. I know for me, when I was. Whenever I would have a flare up of my pain, I would shut down. It's like I will get up, I will feed my family, I will make sure we have clean clothes. That's the extent of the energy that I have today. This is what I can do. The rest of the time. I will watch harmless movies. I will sit on the couch, on my heating pad. And sometimes those, those things are necessary. Sometimes I have to sit and rest my body. But I don't have to disconnect in those moments. I can choose to connect to Jesus and, and what he's saying over me and to plug into that. So we, we do have a choice. And that is probably the hardest part, I think, is recognizing when you're way down deep stuck it was recognizing I have a choice if I'm gonna stay here. And so it's important that we begin to practice that day to day con Lord, like we talked about with Moses, turning aside, what is he doing? Because in those times when we shut down, we're not practicing. We're not getting up in the morning and saying, hey, God, how's it going? Let's chat about my day, right? We're. We're disconnected. We've chosen to unplug from him so. [00:18:26] Speaker B: Many times we get stressed out or we're panicking. Like, I need to make a decision. Oh, my gosh, I don't know what to do. I need the Lord to speak. And we. We're expecting a voice from heaven to say, hello, you down there. This is what you're supposed to do. Right? You know, and that rarely happens. And when we're so stressed out, it's really hard to even hear the audible voice of God. He, or really he usually speaks in that still small voice in your mind that at least that's how I experience it. And so, you know, we want him to just kind of give us a sovereignly move. Yes, but that's. That's not what he's like. He's drawing you into a relationship. He said, let's spend time together. Let's talk about that. And sometimes he wants to talk about something completely different. You're like, but I need to make this decision. He's like, well, we need to spend some time on some other things that are more important. He has his own agenda with us. [00:19:17] Speaker A: Well, and in those times, I think it's important to recognize that sometimes we try to live our lives however we want. Right? Maybe you're not stuck in chaos. Maybe you're not overwhelmed with life. You just want to do what you want to do. And so you're going day in and day out without actually tuning into God. Like, you've chosen to just do life without him. Maybe just little by little, you've slowly grown further apart from him. And so then you have these big life decisions come up, up. And now you're panicked because you want him to do exactly what Josh said, right? You want him to come and part the skies, but you have not been in relationship with him. And so he finally gets your attention. He's maybe not going to tell you what you want to hear, but he's going to invite you close to rekindle that. That intimacy and to come back into relationship with him. So maybe for you, it's not the chaos. It's not the overwhelm. It's just simple disconnection. And God is always inviting us to reconnect with Him. [00:20:12] Speaker B: And God is always speaking to us. But the problem is sometimes we're just not paying attention. And that's really easy to do. Distraction is a huge problem because we all have these devices. We all have media streaming at us, screaming at us all the time. And then we have all of the concerns of life that we're just, I'm trying to take care of the kids. I'm trying to do my job. I'm trying to take care of church. You know, all the different things, the parents that need help, whatever it is, it just makes it hard to have a focused time with God. We're distracted sometimes. We're just stressed or we're afraid. And that makes it hard to tune into his voice. A lot of times we second guess what we're hearing. God will speak something. And we go, was that really God or was that me? Am I just making this up or. And sometimes it's, well, I think God said this, but I kind of. I'm scared to do that or don't want to do that. And so we make an excuse and say, that wasn't really his. [00:21:11] Speaker A: Well, even when you came home and told me God said, it's time, I was like, it's time. Let's go. Like, we've been praying about this, and. And your immediate response was, time for what? And I was like, you know what it's time for? Like. And I think that's the thing, right? God says it's time, and it's this huge deal, and you're like, I don't know if I'm ready to do that. But because we had been praying and seeking and. And thankfully, you were bringing that to me, and I'm a feeler and a knower, and I was already ready. Like, I knew this is what God had for us. I was able to encourage you that, yes, this is what he's saying. And we were able to make that decision together. And so that's why it's so important to share these things with people who know you, who have your best interest at heart, who are godly, who. Who are seeking God for you as well. Because we don't always trust what we're hearing, and that's okay. But we need to have other people in our lives who can help us hear God correctly and do what he's asking us to do, who will hold us accountable to walk forward in the thing that God has for Us. So I have a question for you. Do you feel like disconnecting or brushing aside those feelings of moving forward? Do you feel like that was easier in the moment than choosing to turn aside and listen to what God was saying, or choosing to connect when you already felt overwhelmed? [00:22:33] Speaker B: It was more of a default. I was defaulting to, I can't, I feel too stressed, or I don't know what to do. I'm just overwhelmed. And so it was easier to shut down for a while, or sometimes I was too anxious, you know, to really clue in. In the long run, of course, that was more difficult on us personally. It just hurt so much, and it wasn't healthy for me. So, you know, looking back on it, of course it would have been better to say, you know what? I'm not gonna partner with all the anxiety or the disappointment, the discouragement. I'm gonna turn that stuff off, and I'm gonna clue into what God is saying and focus on my relationship. And even today, I do the same thing. It's like, I'm kind of anxious about this. I need to spend more time seeking the Lord on it, being intentional to see what he's saying. And then when I'm able to put the pieces together of, okay, he said this. I read this scripture. And that felt really important. And we had this conversation with a pastor. Oh, this is all kind of coming together. And then seeking the peace of God for that. It all. It just comes together. And you go, oh, yes. And the anxiety lifts. It's like, okay, I know what we're doing. God's speaking. It gives you so much confidence to move forward in life. [00:23:47] Speaker A: And that just ties in so beautifully to the steps to discerning how to move forward. This is how you fix that feeling of, I don't know what God's saying. I don't know what he's doing in my life. Or maybe you just feel like he's not speaking at all. You have to start with peace. It always has to come from, where's the peace? Where's the peace of God in my life? I want to plug in. I had this picture that a pastor gave to me one time because I was like, everybody keeps telling me that I carry so much peace, but I don't feel peace. And it's like the one thing that I need. And he said, kreena, it's already inside of you. You just have to plug into it. And it just gave me this picture immediately in my mind of a. A plug plugging into the power source. And so whenever I start to feel unsettled. I just close my eyes and I imagine myself as a plug, and I'm plugging into Jesus, and his peace begins to flow into me. And so if we can still our minds and still our hearts before him, recognize, as the psalm says, be still and know that I am God. We recognize that he's God, then we can begin to find some peace. And we start there, start in that place of peace to. To hear his voice. And if you need help to find peace, that's okay. If you need tools, if you need to go sit with a counselor or a coach or somebody who can say, hey, let's connect to God's peace. Here's how you do it, and walk you through those steps. We know some really great coaches who would help you do that. Josh and Karina. It's us, but we, we, you know, we have to be able to find that no matter where you are, whether you're stuck in chaos and overwhelm or whether you are distracted because you need to be able to turn that off. But that's going to require some. Some process of getting to that peace. You have to get out of the chaos. You have to get out of the constant scroll and find the peace you need to connect with God in the first place. [00:25:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I. I can't hear God or. It's very difficult for him to break through the noise. When my thoughts are swirling, when my body feels anxious, when. When I'm like, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. God, what am I supposed to do? God, what am I supposed to do? He's like, I'm trying to tell you, will you just calm down? [00:26:01] Speaker A: Everybody calm down. [00:26:03] Speaker B: Quiet. And, like, allow me to speak. So you gotta be intentional about it. You have to go after it. Find that space of, okay, I'm back at peace. And then all of a sudden, it's easy to hear what he's saying. Let that just be grace to you to find the peace that you need to hear him speak, to calm the chaos in your mind and to make space for God. That's our next step. We gotta be intentional to make space for him to speak. He's spending time in his presence worshiping, quieting your mind. Take some deep breaths. Set aside some time on your calendar every day to experience the peace of his presence. And you might not hear anything every day. I mean, he speaks to me every day, every day that I'm actually able to get quiet enough to listen. He speaks, and he is speaking to you right now. [00:26:52] Speaker A: Yeah. And then pay attention. What is he saying? Just like Josh has been talking about throughout the episode. If you hear a verse, if you have a conversation, if you hear a song, if the pastor says something, if you open your Bible and it just happens to be that verse, write it down, pull out your journal and just start making a map of what you've been hearing. Or grab your phone and open your notes app and just start jot it down real quickly as you go, oh, I think this is what God is saying. And move on. Like, you don't have to stop and sit and wait and ponder. Take a moment to acknowledge God is speaking, and I'm going to write it down. And then when you have time, when you've made that space for him, you can come back to it and begin to see this puzzle that's coming together of what God is speaking to you. So have. Have a place where you're keeping track of what he's saying, and then have a conversation with a friend. Sometimes as you talk it out with a godly friend, they go, oh, that was God. Oh, that's not normal. That was God. Oh, that sounds like God was speaking to you. In that moment, you might have somebody in your life who, Who. Who can help you sort these things out. And so sometimes just having a conversation, this happens to us all the time, where we're. Where I'm like, I feel like maybe God is saying something, but I'm not sure. And then as I process it with him, we can start to see the picture of what God's painting. And so pay attention to what God is saying. And do that by being intentional. Grab hold of it in writing it down. And then process it with a friend. Process it with the Holy Spirit. Pay attention, because he is always speaking and he wants to speak to you. [00:28:20] Speaker B: And then the next thing is to be obedient. If God's telling you to do something, do it. Take some steps forward. It's so much easier to steer a ship that's moving. Even if you're a little bit unsure, take a small risk and say, okay, I think God is leading me in this direction. Take a small step and start exploring it. Talk to some other people about it, and then you'll start to get more clarity as you step forward. Sometimes you'll take a step and you'll go, oh, well, that was wrong. You know, that really didn't work out. God is. That was. Did I hear you right? Am I supposed to do something different and allow him to do the course correction. It's just like a gps you put in your destination. And when you make a wrong turn, it doesn't say, oh, no, you're never gonna make it there. [00:29:05] Speaker A: You're stuck here. [00:29:05] Speaker B: Now you're stuck here. It's the same way with our lives. As we try to follow him, as we discern his voice, he can recalculate with the best, right? He will get you where you need to go as long as you continue to seek him out. We just have to attach faith that we're not going to make a decision so bad that it will completely blow up our lives if we're truly seeking after the Lord in every step. Just taking these small steps gives you the practice to go, okay, I am hearing God's voice. I'm hearing accurately. And that gives you more confidence as you move forward. [00:29:39] Speaker A: When we step out in the little ways, the big obedience become so much easier when we're following him every little step of the way. And he's like, all right, now jump. You're like, okay, because you've led me this far and I trust that you're going to keep leading me. And so practice is that last piece of it. Find your peace, make space for God. Pay attention to what he's saying. Walk in obedience. But practice makes better, right? And so keep practicing so that you get better at this process. And it's not as hard when you start to feel the swirl. You know how to plug into peace. You know that God wants to speak to you, to continue to speak to you. And so those little obedience obediences make the big obedience that much easier. And if you are facing a big life decision, we just recorded an episode, episode 29, about our decision making process that you can go listen to next. Because God has good things for you and he wants to partner with you in your big life decisions and your little everyday decisions. [00:30:38] Speaker B: So the number one reason why Christians have trouble discerning God's voice is because they're just not paying attention. He's always speaking, and you were created to hear his voice. And it's one of his deepest desires to speak to you, to have you hear his voice, and to step out into what he has for you. That abundant life that he promised us comes from his voice. So we want to invite you to come and work with us. If you struggled hearing God's voice or you need clarity on what he's saying in your life to defeat lies that might be holding you back and to experience the truth of God, setting you free. We want to partner with you. We want to lead you in that process as we've helped all of our other clients step into clarity, step into their purpose for their lives. God wants to move powerfully in your life and we want to see breakthrough for you because that's what God wants for you. So we are so excited to work with you. So go to our website. The link is in the show notes. It's joshandkarina.com coaching J-O-S-H-A-N-C-O-R-I-N a.com coaching and hit us up. We want to hear from you and we would love to work with you. God always shows up powerfully in these sessions. [00:32:03] Speaker A: Hey friend. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds to share this podcast with someone who may need encouragement or practical tools for fighting their battle? [00:32:13] Speaker B: Then rate and review this podcast. Help us spread the message of transformation far and wide. [00:32:19] Speaker A: All right, time to walk back into the noise with peace, purpose and maybe a tiny bit of guffing. [00:32:24] Speaker B: We'll meet you back next Thursday for another episode. Bye. It.

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