CHAPTER 1
Hear
“I don’t hear from God.” Shawn’s friend, who is one of the more successful businessmen he knows, looked at him with utter conviction. “My wife is that kind of person,” he said. “I wish I did, though, because things would be so much easier.”
“Mark, I can prove to you in about fifteen minutes that over the course of the last twenty years, you have been following the voice of God but have not understood it. You are wired to hear from Him. He made you that way.”
“Fine, try me,” he said.
Shawn remembered how much Mark always talked about his three adult children and how much he loved them. “What was the largest financial sacrifice you made for one of your children and why?” Shawn asked.
“That’s easy. My son and now daughter-in-law were getting married, and we gave them enough money from their inheritance to buy their dream home.”
“That doesn’t sound like a normal decision. What compelled you to do that?” Shawn asked.
“Well, he met her in a mission organization, and she was from a third-world country. She had never owned a home nor had her family. She is highly educated and only wanted a career. My wife and I felt that if they had a house, they would feel able to start a family.”
“And what happened?” Shawn asked.
“She loved having a home! They got pregnant in their first year. We now have three grandbabies after five years of their marriage and she loves it so much she was able to transition her career from full time to contract work.”
“How did you come to that decision? That was a huge sacrifice and very generous. Did your other kids get jealous or misunderstand?”
“Well, we were praying in a room we have designated as a prayer room, and the idea came to me. And no, our other kids love her and were in full support.”
“So, you were just praying, and an idea jumped into your head?”
“I mean, I know what you are saying but I didn’t hear a voice. I didn’t even feel a tingle.”
“But you made a decision that changed the trajectory of their lives, freed them up to pursue legacy over career, helped them to embrace the identity of family, and you are the hero of this story?” Shawn laughed, not really rebuking him, but enjoying his realization of God’s voice in his life.
“Oh …” Mark started to ponder.
“Your instinct is beautiful. Your ability to hear is powerful. You need to stop looking for an external voice to lead you and trust that Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to live inside of you, and this is the fruit of that relationship.”
Shawn and Mark began to reverse engineer several other times when there was great fruit in his life in business and family. Through this process, he found God’s voice.
Wired to Hear God’s Voice
God wants to talk to us more than we desire to hear Him. In fact, when we begin to reverse engineer big decisions, blessings, and moments of impact, like Mark did, we can start to recognize how God speaks to us in our everyday lives. We also begin to see how we are created not just to hear His voice but also to know His heart.
It’s important to note that hearing from God is not always a direct route to solving our problems or helping us succeed. Communication is not just transactional; it’s relational. Usually when we are desperate enough to pursue God’s voice, it is when we have pain, problems, or is