e159 Ask God to Choose Who You Listen To (one by one)

This is Faith to Witness 99, motivating us to hear God and share the Shepherd.  

Season 3 Episode 159 Ask God to Choose Who You Listen To (one by one)  

Here’s the gist, human. I am not ga ga about anyone. Not even Jesus. That’s a culture gimmick that feeds shallow connections and fickle human bonds. God cuts through the superfluous, the disingenuous, the fraudster in each of us. We need God to choose who we listen to, who will strengthen our witness. God is selective in his sovereignty. Divinely focused on feeding our spirit. Join us as I share one of the “voices” in my life, her latest work about pain and offense, and how I stay prayed up about this, pleading God to choose the voices that strengthen how he created me to bear testimony to Jesus. Your life too. E159. Thanks for listening.

This weekly podcast is about deepening our relationship with Jesus so we can strengthen our witness and share the Shepherd with someone who is lost, whether saved or not saved. God puts specific people in our lives, offline, in our physical lives and online to help mentor us, inspire us, grow us. Today I share one of mine, to bring some clarity to how God brings discernment to each of us personally.

I’m Kathryn Bise, your host.

Let me go for a little more clarity on this. I am not talking about people we listen to for a theological check-in, or an ideological stance. That’s research. While God works through these people to help ground us in the truth, that’s not who I am talking about today. I am also not talking about people in your physical daily life, whether they are close or live a distance from you. I am talking about online, perhaps people you track on a deeper level. Today I share a Christian author because God put her on my social media path. Join us for the why and some highlights from her latest book that address something I find challenging.

She is a strong witness to my spirit. And God, in his infinite sovereignty is focused on feeding my spirit.

We end with clarity about the process of discerning who to track on our social platforms and how to continually yield to God’s will for each of us.

Why? Because you know God brought you to that person. Out of thousands of voices.

God Only Needs One

Meet one of mine. Alexandra Hoover. I don’t spend a lot of time online outside of making my podcast available. And watching dog, bear and lion clips. Don’t ask.

But I have been tracking author Alexandra Hoover for a couple of years—her voice, her humility, her commitment to Jesus. She is doing the deep spiritual work, personally, and professionally.

She’s half my age. So there’s that.

She fills a positive space. Not a negative one. A strong spirit.

She asks the right questions and is so beautifully stubborn about not letting someone live in the negative.

But the beauty of it is that I don’t need to understand God’s reasoning. She is one of so many choices. Good people, inspiring people.

The truth is, God only ever needs one. Because our relationship with Jesus Christ is one on one.

So when the spirit moves and I am convicted, there is amazing peace in that. I take in what she puts out with an open heart. I trust God with this. That’s how God works his discernment. In an open heart.

Romans 8:5-6

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

And I take it seriously. I don’t just leave “amen” at the comment door, I pray over the messaging, consider God’s intent. So when God summons my heart, it’s a two-way street that only servants travel. He asks me to make a commitment to pray for and support that person’s voice. And because God did the choosing, I am listening for God’s voice.

In the Flesh and the Spirit

So today I am sharing a book recommendation. I decided to bring it into a podcast episode so that it will have a longer life. The podcast community is a great place to identify good resources to supplement your spiritual growth. Podcast listeners are looking for their next read. God works through all of it.

In September I had an opportunity to attend a regional conference to listen to Alexandra speak in person – you know, gain a sense of her “in the flesh and the spirit.” That’s a telling engagement, in the best of ways. It grounds the online profile in the fleshy reality of being human. Being vulnerable, being right there in that moment.

God is very clear about my path.

He put this upon my heart: I should give back to her life, for what she has given so freely to me. I also have had an opportunity to participate in her Book Launch as a supportive sister in Christ. I don’t usually do book recommendations other than as part of research. I try to stay focused on God’s Word.

But after all, we are all earthlings for a while, yet. Supporting each other.

I monitor Christian nonfiction book releases because that is my genre as a writer. But there are so many unread books. I pray for discernment on what I spend time reading. An example of the type of book I usually read would be Knowing God, by J.I. Packer. That kind of book. Usually from another time.

But our God chooses well, doesn’t he?

Alexandra Hoover’s book, You Can Let Go, is about the pain we carry, create a safe harbor for, and eventually become defined by, and how God works it out of our hearts. She takes us through the process of offense, and how when we see our life through the lens of offense, we lose. When there is so much more to gain from God.

In her words, “You can grieve what happened and still believe in what’s possible. Because Jesus still heals. And He hasn’t changed His mind about you. That’s what You Can Let Go is all about—learning to release the pain, rebuild your faith, and remember who your heart belongs to.”

This reminded me that Paul tells us in Philippians, chapter four:

Philippians 4:19

19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

When Pain and Offense Become Your Identity

Alexandra strikes an internal rhythm, not quite a stream-of-consciousness, as she circles back over her experience, giving the pain she felt a chance to breathe, with little victories along the way, but always circling back. Alexandra’s personal journey shows us just how deep our thought life reaches into our soul to own it. Until we submit to letting God define it through his sovereignty.

How we are brought into her story is organic, and I find myself understanding better how a person settles into pain as their identity. There are many reasons God chose her voice for me, the alignment with how I process things, the affirmations, the word choices, the commitment to boldness, and her humility, honesty, her spirit in it all.

But her work in this book is a great big WHY shoutout to God’s choice. The emotional draw for me is this: I have a hard time being compassionate with people who stay in a negative spiral. When Alexandra described “pressing into the pain” I gained a wider lens, and a deeper perspective, about how people can treat pain like a pumice that keeps them from healing. It’s not something I naturally dwell on but I want our listeners to weigh in on.

Thank you, Alexandra. God is so good.

And that’s not to say I didn’t personally benefit from the “taking offense” perspective. We all take offense. It’s human nature to do so. And offense is a horrendous stall from a more productive spiritual life with God.

Spiritual “Whoa” from You Can Let Go, Author Alexandra Hoover

You Can Let Go is a good book for thinking through the process as Alexandra shares her own life journey. You don’t have to understand it immediately; you can ease into engaging and use the space she creates to identify your own pain issues and personal approach to a life of taking offense. A life of making pain your identity. This book is scripture-based, with spiritual “watering holes” throughout the book to stop and rest upon God’s word. I love this. Anchoring our journey in his Word.

This book is going to help people. Maybe you. Maybe someone you know.

I thought it would be helpful to share a few, what I call, spiritual “Whoa’s” from You Can Let Go. Here are a few “I” statements in the book that prompt the reader’s spirit:

• “If I let go of my pain, I don’t know what I have left.”
• “I didn’t remember feeling safe enough to be a child;”
• “I even felt bitter about getting better.”
• “But the choice to stay in it I was blind to.”

And a few affirmations in the book:

• “Offense as a constant companion”
• “Healing isn’t found in understanding; it’s found in surrender.”
• “Over spiritualizing our hurt” (no surprise, this one resonates with me)
• “The fight for our thought life is the fight for our freedom.”
• “The more we align our thoughts with His Word, the less power offense has over us and the more freedom we find in His love.”

And the one that is ringin’ in my heart:

• “Offense, though, is like fertile soil for little gods to grow.”

Get the book. Read it. Gift it. And I will say, if you don’t know, pre-orders are very important to the success of a book, the future life of a book. Review it on your favorite site. You can pre-order now. Check for links in show notes. https://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Let-Go-Offense/dp/1540904881

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/alexvhoover/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/alexandravhoover/

URL.com https://www.alexandravhoover.com/youcanletgo 

Our God is Discerning 

So I want to return to what the discernment process actually involves, and how God engages us.

I have one step. Pray to God, pray to Jesus continually that he will make the choices for me. How do I know when the choice is made? A sense of peace about it. I don’t keep looking or adding the next gone-viral Christian author, influencer. I trust God’s intent.

One Savior.

One human voice at a time.

It’s enough. God has led you to hear this voice.

If we want to strengthen our witness to others, we will commit to a constant practice of praying for God to discern who we hear. God makes the choice. Jesus had twelve disciples. Not 12,000.

Proverbs 16:3

3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

    and he will establish your plans.

God will be clear with each of us about who we track on social media. And why. Because God is sovereign and he defines the only legitimate reason he has put that person’s voice into your life.

That we hear him. And share the Shepherd.