What I Have Learned – Hearing God and Knowing His Will 

By Jenna Dexter 

“I’m done,” I journaled on May 4, 2016. “I’m so emotionally spent and so confused. I don’t know what to do. God is supposedly leading me, but I’m not feeling led by any stretch of the imagination. I feel like I’m floundering about trying to figure this out on my own.” 

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever been desperate for God to show you what to do? Have you thought, “If I could just know Your will, God. And fast!” 

You have 42 days to move

Just 25 days prior, I had been given 42 days to move. My landlord was selling the property. Now I had 17 days, and as another journal entry declared, “I have not a clue where I’m going.” 

But here’s the thing. Leading up to the epic “We’re sorry, Jenna, but you have to move” conversation, God had been speaking repeatedly that something “new” was coming. I have several journal entries about it. So when the unexpected hit, well it wasn’t entirely unexpected. God had been preparing me. And this gave me great peace. God had split the sea and made a way for me to live in this special place where my healing journey and new life had begun after the trauma of divorce. And I had all the faith in the world that He would do it again. 

How did God speak to me and prepare me? 

I’m kind of a “hearing God’s voice” geek. I study ways God speaks and love stories of how He spoke to others, such as described in YWAM (Youth With a Mission) founder Loren Cunningham’s book, “Is That Really You, God?: Hearing the Voice of God,” which I highly recommend. 

I pay attention to the nuances of how God speaks to me. Reflecting on old journal entries, I’m blown away at what I documented throughout the “You have 42 days to move” saga. (Wait until you see how it ended!) Journaling is a great way to process, document, and learn how God speaks to you personally. 

God gave me symbolism. Throughout the Bible God uses symbolism. On March 11, 2016, He highlighted symbols representing a coming transition, the promise of a new beginning. 

God used repetition. By themselves, these were just symbols that “seemed” like God speaking. But what they represented came many other ways as well, because God often repeats Himself to confirm what He’s saying. 

God gave me a knowing. Some people hear God by a knowing. I have learned I am one of those people. The best way to describe it is just a deep “knowing” that God is up to something. Sometimes it includes a “prompting” to take some sort of action. Two weeks before the conversation with my landlords I had this “knowing.” My journal entry used the word “stirring” and compared how it felt to two other significant times I’d experienced it, both of which were followed by God’s clear direction. 

God gave me a dream. Four days before the landlord conversation, God gave me a dream. He had been speaking to me through dreams as part of my healing journey, which is another thing I had studied in depth. God spoke in dreams throughout the Bible, using symbolism and metaphors. In my dream I was sitting on the floor of a mobile home that my friend owned. Unlike actual mobile homes, this one had a steering wheel and gas pedal. My friend stood behind the steering wheel and said, “It’s time to go!” Then she began to back up the mobile home very quickly to move it. I couldn’t see anything, was nervous she might hit something, but just had to trust her. 

My journal entry surmised that my friend represented the Holy Spirit telling me, “It’s time to go.” I had some very wrong guesses about what the “going” might look like, but wrote, “Here I am, Lord. Send me. I just want to be where you are.” 

Four days later I sat with my landlords and discovered I was “going somewhere quickly,” all right. My “home” was in motion, I couldn’t see where I was going, and just had to trust the Holy Spirit. 

I still experienced 25 days after that when I still didn’t know where I was going. Because my current place had taken a miracle, I needed another one to stay in the high-cost Northern California area near my daughter. As a former homemaker, homeschool mom, and wife of 23 years, I had no career, degree, or viable source of financial support. I lived largely on faith. Having explored my limited rental options, so far, God was not parting the sea. 

And I had 17 days. 

On May 4, 2016 I was at my wits’ end. In that journal entry I brainstormed every idea I could possibly think of, but nothing felt right. And then, the breakthrough came. 

God speaks through closed doors. If no doors were opening, then perhaps it was time to think “outside the box.” “If I could do anything I wanted, what would I do?” I asked myself. I believe the Holy Spirit whispered this “thought” into my mind. Sometimes what seems like our own thoughts are actually God’s. 

I considered my season of life. As a single empty nester, I had no ties to a relationship, career, mortgage, or other obligation. I was free to do something, perhaps, out of the ordinary. “What if I could travel … internationally?” I thought. Clearly ridiculous, right? Totally impossible. But the faith-filled optimist in me researched and actually found a way to solo travel long-term. 

I’ve learned that more things are possible than you think. Especially with God. Was God parting the sea and making a way for something completely unexpected? Which posed the next question. 

God, what is Your will? This was such a huge decision. Clearly I had to know God’s will. “What is the right thing, God?” I prayed and wrestled. I talked to my parents and prayed some more. God sometimes speaks through wise counsel. 

Then God led me to a sermon, one that changed my view of His will. The pastor shared about a time when he faced three ministry options. He could stay at his current church, take a position with one in another state, or go to one in another country. He prayed and sought God extensively: “What is Your will, God? Which option do You want me to take?” 

He finally heard God say, “What do you want to do?” Apparently God wanted him to think about his own desires! “Whatever you choose, I’ll bless it,” said God. 

This was life-changing for me. 

Turns out sometimes there is no “one perfect will of God.” Sometimes God wants you to choose. If you are seeking Him first (Matthew 6:33), reading His Word that lights your path (Psalm 119:105), delighting yourself in Him (Psalm 37:4), trusting and acknowledging Him (Proverbs 3:5-6), and are surrendered to His will (Luke 11:2), then you can trust that if He wants you to do something specific, He will tell you. Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left (Isaiah 30:21 NLT). 

But if you are not hearing specific direction, perhaps He’s saying, “What do you want to do? Whatever you choose, I’ll bless it.” This can be freeing for many who are stuck from moving into something amazing out of fear that it might not be God’s perfect will. Sometimes we need to “test and approve” God’s will (Romans 12:2). We begin taking action to see if the thing we are leaning toward is right, with the peace of knowing God loves us and His grace is sufficient. 

I went to Australia and New Zealand, mate! Once I felt the peace to choose, I took a bold move, got rid of everything I owned, stayed with family a few months, then embarked on incredible adventures in Australia and New Zealand. 

I drove a car on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car. I stayed in a combination of Airbnb’s, hostels, and with hosts who gave me free room and board in exchange for four hours of work a day. 

Hearing God’s voice can be challenging. He is full of mystery and speaks in subtle ways. I believe one of the reasons He does this is to encourage us to spend more time with Him, seek Him more deeply, and listen more intently. 

“My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming’” (Psalm 27:8 NLT). 

“I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me” (Psalm 16:7 NLT). 

 

Jenna Dexter is a speaker and Christian Life & Mindset Coach for Women. Through 1:1 coaching, she helps women discover hidden dreams, shine in their calling, overcome mental hang-ups, believe in possibility, and unleash confidence. Join Total Thrive Women, a membership community empowering Christian women to get personal, spiritual and professional results through group coaching, a community forum, personal development trainings and more. Learn more at www.TotalThrive.com.