Our youngest child, Henry, is a little over two years old. He is still learning how to hear our voices and recognize our words. However, he is consistently developing his ability to learn a language, which takes time.

As children of God, we are developing as well. We don’t become a follower of Christ and have perfect hearing from the get-go. Hearing God’s voice is a process of maturing over time. It’s through trial and error that we discern His direction. We calibrate our receiver by learning what His voice is and what His voice isn’t.

Don’t’ be afraid of missing God’s voice. We can’t fear failure. Many people are so afraid to miss God’s voice that they end up prolonging the process of learning it. We learn by getting it right, but sometimes by getting it wrong. Remember Thomas Edison’s famous story about how he learned how to make the light bulb. The thousand failed experiments led him to the one that worked. There may be times you feel the Lord is speaking to you about something, and you heard right. There may be times that you miss it, but don’t let that discourage you. Allow the trial and error moments to teach you how to know when it’s Him truly speaking. Just as a child has to go through the complex process of discerning voices, so we have to embrace the journey of knowing our father’s voice.   

I am still learning how to hear God’s voice, and I have been working on it for over twenty years! Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I get it wrong, but I am alright with that because I know it is helping me to learn. I can’t allow the enemy to beat me down when I miss it. I have to keep moving forward with the understanding that I am a work in progress.

I would encourage you to keep a journal of what you feel God speaks to you and see what happens afterward. You can look back and see the times when you were tuned in and possibly see times when you may have missed it. Either way, you will be better off as a result of stepping out and trying. You’ll learn to calibrate to His voice over time.