David Diga Hernandez - Is This My Thoughts or Is God Speaking?

When you can hear the voice of God, you have what I call the great advantage. The reason I refer to it as the great advantage is that if you know me or have heard me teach for any length of time, you’ll realize that I’m very curious about what the history of the Church looks like. I studied this during my pre-teen and teen years, reading books about great evangelists, revivalists, and missionaries. I learned about the early Church fathers, the apostles, and the disciples of Jesus, as well as the efforts of the early Church and the outcomes detailed in the book of Acts. I also read many biographies of men and women of God who were deeply anointed by the Holy Spirit. One of the things I noticed about these individuals is that they always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, under the right circumstances, with the right people; it was as if they knew what was coming. Looking back, as the cliché goes, hindsight is 20/20, but you often reflect on moments in your life when you obeyed God’s voice. You recall instances where God was clearly directing you, even if you didn’t understand it at the time. In retrospect, it is thrilling to see how God was at work, and you might say, «I can see the hand of God; it’s obvious now.» However, when you are in those situations where God is speaking to you and making something clear, you often find yourself questioning, «Lord, are you sure you know what you’re doing?» This tendency to question the sovereignty of God is part of human nature. Then there are times you look back at your life and might regret that you didn’t obey God; you might say, «I knew that was the Holy Spirit.» Sometimes, only in hindsight do you realize it was the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Often, we get stuck in the moment, surrounded by confusion and chaos. We are so immersed in the situation that we can’t discern the Holy Spirit’s voice. We may feel a gut instinct or a subtle idea that we overlook, and later we might say, «That was the Holy Spirit; I should have listened.» Today, I want to share three very practical keys because we know it’s important to hear God. This is what I call the great advantage. I will provide you with three keys to recognizing the voice of God. As I mentioned regarding these anointed individuals, they were perfectly positioned. Can you imagine that God—the one who created you, the one who formed the world, the one who possesses all understanding, wisdom, and foreknowledge about the future—is able to speak to you daily, specifically and directly, to your heart and mind? God wants to instruct you in this moment and in this season of your life. You may feel that the heavens are brass; you might feel that you can’t clearly hear God. It may seem like so much is happening around you that you can’t tune in to receive what God is saying. I have good news for you; that’s what this message is about today. You can become someone who has this great advantage. Once you learn to recognize the voice of God, it alleviates lack, regret, calamity, chaos, and wasted time. Often, we engage in actions that, as Scripture says, lead us astray, like when Satan encouraged King David to take a census of the people of Israel, which proved to be a waste of time. We also see where David desired to build the temple, and the prophet gave him the go-ahead, but later, the message to David changed; he was informed that he was not the one to build it. When you hear the voice of God and understand it, it saves you from wasting time, unnecessary heartache, and resources. It prevents you from pursuing wrong paths and forming ungodly connections. The people with whom we are connected matter a lot, but equally important are those from whom God disconnects us. What God takes away is just as vital as what God gives. He wants to provide you with clear and specific guidance if only you are willing to listen. Ultimately, everything God speaks—whether through dreams, circumstances, coincidences, or others—always carries a message of truth. As I mentioned, God speaks not only to adults but also to children; He communicates through dreams, and I could continue listing the many ways He does so.