God Unfiltered

Recently, I was a part of team that was making a major ministry decision. As we approached the decision I could think of a list of reasons we should not pursue a certain direction. Logic in many respects dictated a different direction.

I am not suggesting we make rash decisions that throw all reason out the window. But often our reason gets in the way of hearing God. We pray and seek God but when He speaks we put it through our filters. Our filters keep us from following the Spirit of God. They keep us from hearing what God is really saying. He may be speaking but filters can shape it into something we want to hear or comfortable with doing.

Filters can be our personal agendas, fears, comfort, past experiences the list goes on and on. But to really hear the voice of God we must be willing to turn our filters off. I don’t know about you but I am often really good at trying to argue my position with God. At times I do not even realize I am arguing. I just think I am being reasonable. I don’t realize my filters are actually skewing what God is trying to tell me.

In the decision I mentioned above without going into a lot of detail. I realized I was running everything through all my filters. I knew I could very well come to the wrong conclusion if they were not turned off. So I forced them off with God’s help. I opened up my heart to hear God’s heart. This is not always an easy thing to do. However, once I did my perspective completely changed. I began to see what He saw and what a great view. To see from His vantage point brings an amazing clarity.

To filter God’s voice is to dull our hearing. Dull hearing leads to a dull unfulfilling life. A dull unfulfilling life can lead to all kinds of spiritual problems. Many sins happen because people get bored and start looking for some kind of excitement. Spiritual boredom is a dangerous place to be.

Hearing and obeying the voice of God is an exciting prospect. God is not boring. But to walk on the edge with Him we cannot filter Him. If we do we will only get what we think is right and miss the heart of God. We will not see the release of power that happens as we hear and obey.

We need to purpose to walk with God daily totally unfiltered. There is so much He wants to do through us. But to find it we must approach Him with all filters off. Can you imagine what would happen if we would allow ourselves to hear God unfiltered? How powerful could the church be if we approached every decision with a blank slate ready for God alone to write on it?