SCT 10: Points of failure

by Darren Rusco

Note: I'm working on a book about hearing God's voice. The process of writing is a slog for me, so I decided to work it out through blog posts, hoping that would help me get ideas out to print, and also give readers a chance to feedback and help form the end product.

Chapter 10

Points of failure

When God speaks to a person, God has no error. What he says is true and perfect. So the point from heaven to earth, his spirit to our spirit, has no failure. But because we are human, once the word has left his tongue and arrived at our ears, there are multiple points of potential failure. The first potential point of failure is whether or not we even hear what God said. The primary point of this book is to solve this to make it a point of success and not failure.

However, once we know we have heard God’s voice, the next potential point of failure is whether or not we understand what God said. Early on in the Bible, God revealed something about his communication nature that frankly causes frustration among his hearers. Numbers 12:6-8:

And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say: If there were prophets among you, I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams. But not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust. I speak to him face to face, clearly, and not in riddles!

His communication preference is to speak in riddles with only rare exceptions. And indeed, almost all prophetic revelation in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is filled with metaphor. Even the most important messianic prophecies were encoded with mystery and were misunderstood by the most faithful of God’s people. And come to find out, many more prophecies were not known at the time to be messianic, but were announced as messianic when Jesus came on the scene; thereby having two separate prophetic fulfillments. At the time, few understood this.

Jesus himself continued in this nature by speaking in parables, and his followers continued with frustration over this. When the Holy Spirit was poured out among the church, nothing changed – more metaphorical communication. And at the end of the Bible we have a book called “Revelation” written by John the apostle, containing a myriad of symbolic and mysterious visions, whose meanings have been debated for two millenia by people who have the Holy Spirit within them!

Supposing we hear and then understand what God says, the next potential point of failure is in taking steps of action. What am I to do once I understand? And if God has spoken prophetically, that is to say, if he speaks to one person in order to communicate to someone else, even more potential points of failure may arise.

As a result of these potential points of failure, it’s quite possible for us to go down some wrong paths. Some will choose the path of neglect – simply ignoring God’s voice in order to eliminate the mess and guarantee freedom from error. For sure, there are many who believe God speaks, but have grown weary from challenges around the points of failure. So they throw their hands up and neglect God’s voice altogether.

Others will throw caution to the wind, and walk the path of consistent error, finding God’s voice where he isn’t speaking and causing pain and cynicism among those in the wake. Much of this error comes about because people simply love God’s voice and the pursuit of God’s voice so much that they find metaphor where God isn’t speaking. In this case they are wrong at the first potential point of failure - hearing, which obviously leads to a failure of understanding, which can lead to a disastrous failed point of action. I’ve seen people make life-altering decisions based upon these moments – decisions that led to much trouble. And even more error is found in the realm of the prophetic, where one person is supposedly hearing God’s voice on behalf of another person or group. The harm as a result of misrepresenting God’s voice is incalculable. This is why it is important to hear God’s voice in community and with rails in place, so as to help protect against error or even abuse.

The challenge of understanding illustrated in Acts

The Bible gives many examples of God’s voice being heard, understood, and acted upon accurately with great fruit. Acts 11:28 tells the story of a prophet named Agabus who predicted that a great famine was coming across the Roman empire. As a result of this word, churches began to collect money for the parts of the empire that would be especially in need. And in time, the famine came and the money was dispersed. This is a success story on hearing, understanding, and acting. But later, the voice of God was not understood so clearly.

As Paul’s story unfolds in the book Acts, he tells of his burning desire to return to the dangers of Jerusalem, a place where many people, both religious and secular, would like to cause him harm. He communicates in Acts 20:22-23:

And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.

Paul shares two items revealed to him by God’s voice: a directive to go to Jerusalem, and that jail and suffering are in his future. He doesn’t reveal a time frame for Jerusalem, but Paul was slowly working his way there when he made this statement. And apparently he has heard the suffering word multiple times. Paul insinuates that these two words are probably connected, the jail time and suffering are in Jerusalem, but because he is bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, the coming suffering is irrelevant to his decision making process. He will obey. But don’t miss the language: bound by the Spirit. There is no way Paul is not going to Jerusalem. This must have been a strong word. But then it gets messy.

Paul continues his travels to Jerusalem in direct obedience to God’s voice. His ship lands in Tyre and he finds a local group of believers who have also been hearing from God. Acts 4:21:

…These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem.

What was Paul to do with this? He is bound by the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem and now hears a prophetic word to not go to Jerusalem. To make matters more challenging for us to understand, the text reads that they prophesied through the Holy Spirit. Both Paul and the Tyre believers have words from the Holy Spirit that seem in conflict with one another. Is there an error? Does this mean Paul should not go to Jerusalem YET? Which Holy Spirit word trumps the other?

For better or worse, Paul left to go to Jerusalem. He did not heed this prophetic word. I’ve often wondered what those believers thought when Paul ignored their word. This is an untidy situation of hearing God’s voice. And it’s about to get messier.

Paul traveled from Tyre and stopped in the city of Caesarea, home of Philip the evangelist who had four daughters with the gift of prophecy. The story makes no mention of any prophecy given by these women but it’s of interest to me they are mentioned with the specifics of their gifts. I wonder if they had anything to say to Paul about Jerusalem.

While still with Philip in Caesarea, Agabus arrives with a prophecy for Paul. Acts 21:11:

He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’”

The story goes on to describe how all the believers begged Paul not to travel to Jerusalem.

This prophecy from Agabus is not in conflict with the words Paul himself received from the Holy Spirit about Jerusalem. Agabus was simply predicting what would happen to Paul if he went. However, we can see that all the people interpreted the purpose of the prophecy was to communicate not to go. But Paul would not be convinced. He continued on to Jerusalem. So we can see with this word, there is no failure in hearing. But they all disagree on the understanding of the word and what the point of action should be. Paul thought the purpose was predictive - you will be arrested when you are in Jerusalem. Agabus thought the purpose was a cautionary directive - you should not go to Jerusalem because you will be arrested if you go. And both types of words are very much in the nature of God. In some cases, Paul intentionally fled persecution and in others he intentionally walks right into it. God can direct either way.

If you heard and watched the prophecy from Agabus, how would you expect things to play out for Paul in Jerusalem? I might conclude it would play out similarly to how it went for Jesus, who was arrested by the Jewish leaders and handed over to the Romans to be executed. Yet in Acts 21 we read how the Jewish mob formed around Paul which turned into a riot where Paul was dragged outside the city to be killed by the mob. The Roman soldiers intervened and arrested Paul, saving him from certain death. Paul remained imprisoned locally before getting transferred to Rome. So there is plenty of gray area in the prophecy from Agabus. Indeed Paul was arrested, but the Romans actually saved Paul in that moment instead of killing him.

We can see from these examples that hearing God’s voice and understanding how to move forward can be extremely challenging. We might ask God why he isn’t more specific. But faith demands moment by moment dependency on the leading of the Holy Spirit. The error in hearing God’s voice is never in the transmission from heaven to earth. It’s an error of understanding and action. It’s an erroneous jump to the wrong conclusion. Paul was hearing a word to help him prepare rather than steer him away. And God can give a word to steer away or to prepare. We have to invite the Holy Spirit to help us put all the pieces of the puzzle together. And in this story, just as in real life, it is messy.

Testing and Tidiness

The response to the potential for error cannot be neglect. Yes, if you simply build a theological structure that says God does not speak, you can avoid the mess and keep your space tidy. But as Solomon said in Proverbs 14:4:

Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.

If we want the most out of the life God has prepared for us, a messy stable with potential for error is much more desirable than a tidy one with a guarantee of freedom from error. In reality, walking a road without the voice of God is a massive error on its own.

Paul wrote about error and the neglect of God’s voice in the church in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21:

Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.

Placing God’s voice off to the side with a scoff is stifling the Holy Spirit. It fascinates me that we have the ability to stifle God. So while it can be challenging, yes even heartbreaking to walk the road of pursuing God’s voice, it’s a much better option than stifling God himself.

Everything we think we hear from God should be tested. This is an invitation from God. For the listener of a word from God, you should never think testing God’s voice is unbelief. We test and hold on to what is good. This means there will be some bad. But we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Those people who have made disastrous decisions in the name of hearing God’s voice never took those words through a testing season because they felt this underlying guilt. But no, it is God’s idea for you to test and seek counsel and seek confirmation.

We test what we hear from God, or what we hear from another who heard from God, by taking the word through a discernment process. The Bible does not give specific instructions on testing, so I have a process in place that helps me discover what is good and what needs to be discarded. This process can be done by yourself but walking though it with a trusted friend is even better.

First, I prepare myself for an outcome that the word could be discarded. When we think we hear from God, it can be difficult to be honest about the truth of the word. The challenge is that we can have dreams or emotions or various feelings that rise up and seem like a word from God, yet are actually born from our own soul. This is why honesty is paramount and having a friend who is not afraid to speak the truth is of great value. Often, based upon stubbornness or a wound, we are predetermined to an action and we will seek out a word from God to justify our actions. This is a dangerous road. Not only are we making poor decisions affecting the lives of others, we are doing it in the name of God’s voice. Saying God said something he hasn’t said, gives you a false position of authority in your decision making that closes the door for people to give wise counsel into your situation. All of this because God’s voice of metaphor can be easily manipulated into meaning something he hasn’t meant.

Next, I evaluate what I’m hearing against the general teaching of Scriptures and against the revealed heart of God. Is the word in conflict with Scripture or in conflict with God’s character? If the word is aligned with these, I continue.

Then I evaluate what type of conviction the word brings in my spirit. The tone of God brings conviction to change while the tone of the devil brings condemnation to remain. If I have a revelation that I’ve sinned, I want the conviction of God that leads to repentance and change. But similar voices will bring condemnation. Because God loves me, he has the right to deal with me in a matter of discipline. But we need to evaluate the tone in order to know the source.

Not all words have the same action points. God could correct my identity, and the action point comes in a change of thinking. But God can also speak to me to change my career, which has a completely different set of action points. And in cases like this, the consequences of misunderstanding what God is saying are disastrous. So for bigger action points, I press into God for more confirmation. Asking for confirmation is not unbelief. God delights in this step.

If you scan through the Bible, and I have found this validated in my own experience and through the testimony of others, there is a positive correlation with God’s plain speech and the difficulty of the subject matter. That is to say, usually when God speaks loudly or without metaphor, it is about something very difficult. Young Samuel is a great example of this. There was no metaphor in the word the Lord gave him, and he had to deliver a word of judgment to Eli about his family. So think twice before you ask God to speak more loudly and clearly!

But if God indeed wants to speak to us about grand or difficult issues, be ready for him to validate the word from multiple sources because he loves to confirm what he is saying in multiple ways. In fact, I advise you to ask God for a sign of confirmation from a source or place outside of yourself - something you won’t be able to deny is God when it happens.

If you find yourself in the position of Agabus, representing God’s voice to another person, it’s important to say what God has said and not your opinion on what God has said. It’s not helpful to blur the lines on God’s voice and your own. Give the other person permission and space to test what you say, knowing that one possible outcome of that test is to discard what you said. If indeed they discard the word, do not be offended.

I believe getting honest about the potential points of failure sets us up to be more successful at hearing God’s voice. Ultimately, we know God loves to talk to us and he wants the best for us. His intentions are not to set us up to fail. He is not that teacher who gives trick questions in order to make the student confused. No, his deepest desire is to fellowship with his people. And with this knowledge we can move forward to successful hearing.