A recent conversation centered on how God speaks. In our culture, people often equate what we WANT God to say with what they believe God IS saying. It’s actually a convenient expression of “wishful thinking,” wanting our own choices to be validated by God.

Unfortunately, what WE want is often in conflict with what GOD wants. The subjective arena of our feelings will lead us into all kinds of trouble because, in our hearts, the basic drive is always going to be toward selfishness. I often tell young couples, “You can have an incredible, peace-filled marriage. All you must do is slay your selfishness, and you will have a perfect marriage!” And, of course, we have a good laugh about it and move on. Our feelings naturally follow the lines of our desires, our temptations, and our drives. We naturally put words into the mouth of God because it feels right, good, advantageous, or fulfilling.

So, how do we test the revelation we think we are experiencing to know it’s of the Lord, not just the self-convincing of our own desires? We test it against Scripture.

Jesus once talked about what He said and did, and its validation was that He does what the Spirit does, and He speaks what His Father speaks. He declared that there was a consistency that we can expect. If we “feel” the Spirit’s leadership in a way that contradicts the Scripture, we must choose to make our feelings accountable to what we KNOW is right.

I remember a college student who came to see me with his girlfriend, who had just discovered she was pregnant. He was adamant that their relationship must be justified because God “made them” feel this way. So, in spite of Jesus’ teaching about adultery, lust, and the human heart, this student wanted to justify his actions and choices based on his own feelings.

My recent conversation was an exciting one because my friend felt like God was speaking to him in his heart in a profound way, and it was both exhilarating and worrisome. He wanted to be sure that this experience was from GOD, not just his own wishful thinking. “That’s why it’s so important to immerse yourself in the Word. When you know how God has already spoken and how He has spoken, you can recognize how He speaks, leads, and guides. And you’ll find yourself saying about someone else’s opinion of God, ‘That doesn’t sound like Jesus!'”

God reveals with consistency, so everything we believe, every choice must be evaluated against the standard of Scripture–and we will find God’s GENUINE voice in our hearts aligns with God’s revelation in Scripture, just as every estimate of distance is measured against a ruler, a standard of measurement.

If you’re seeking God’s leadership, you’ll find Him at work in your heart & mind, and you must measure that to see if it aligns with what God has already said! That’s how God reveals. . .with consistency.