0005 Ten Ways that God Speaks pt. 2

Have you ever wondered whether God is speaking to you and you’re not sure how to recognize Him?

In the first part of this message, we explored four unique ways God communicates. 

In this episode of the Passages Podcast, Brittany and Eric continue the conversation by unpacking six additional ways God communicates with His people. These aren’t always dramatic or supernatural moments, but they are just as powerful—and often more consistent in our daily lives.

As believers grow in their relationship with God, learning to recognize these forms of communication becomes essential because God is not limited to one method. He often speaks in ways that require awareness, humility, and spiritual sensitivity in order to guide, correct, encourage, and reveal His will.
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Here are the six additional ways God communicates:

Other people – God often speaks through relationships, community, and even unexpected conversations, using others to bring encouragement, truth, or direction.

Inner witness (conscience) – The internal prompting that aligns with God’s truth,  guiding our decisions through conviction, awareness, and spiritual sensitivity.

Peace and inner confirmation – The unexplainable sense of peace (or lack of it) that can guide decisions and reveal whether something aligns with God’s will.

Authority figures– How God works through established authorities, including family, spiritual leaders, and other areas of influence, to provide direction and accountability.

Creation and nature – The ways God reveals Himself through nature, reminding us of His presence, power, and design.

Audible voice and supernatural intervention – Moments when God speaks or acts in unmistakable ways, including audible direction, miracles, and divine provision.
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Throughout the episode, Brittany and Eric share both biblical examples and personal experiences that illustrate how these forms of communication can influence our everyday life.

In all these 10 methods encourage us to explore deeper questions such as:

• How do you stay open to the ways God chooses to speak, even when it’s not what you expected?
• What happens when we ignore or dismiss the ways He is already communicating?
• And how can we grow in discernment without becoming fearful, confused, or overly critical?

By grounding each example in Scripture and walking through practical application, this conversation brings clarity to what can often feel like a complicated or uncertain topic.

If you’ve ever felt unsure about how God speaks—or wondered if you might be missing His voice—this episode will teach you to recognize that He may already be communicating more than you realize.

Continuing in this episode, Brittany and Eric discuss:

• How God uses relationships and community to speak into our lives
 • What it means to “borrow faith” and why it matters
 • How the conscience functions as an internal guide
 • Why peace can be a powerful indicator of God’s direction
 • The role of authority in spiritual growth and discernment
 • How creation reflects God’s voice and presence
 • When God speaks in unmistakable, supernatural ways

As this conversation comes to a close, one question remains:

Are we willing to let God speak on His terms… or only the ways we expect?

Because God is always communicating.

The key is learning how to recognize and respond to His voice.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:21

In our last episode, we began walking through the ways scripture shows us that God speaks. We talked about angelic visitation, Rhema words, scripture, and dreams and visions. If you haven't listened to that episode yet, I really encourage you to start there because today we're continuing that conversation. We're moving into the next six ways that the Bible reveals that the Lord communicates with his people. Eric, as we move into the second half of this teaching, why is it so important that believers not only know that God speaks, but learn to recognize how he speaks?

SPEAKER_01 0:52

It it glorifies him, and God wants to be glorified. There's no getting around it. He he says in in the uh first commandment, I'm a jealous God. Okay. And I he wants to be glorified. And whatever we can do, if we can find ways to sharpen our listening skills, and I put the word listening in quotes, because sometimes it's reading skills, sometimes it's just watching skills, but just honoring uh his uh uh willingness to uh and method for reaching us, uh it's like, wow, these people, this individual really glorifies me and is willing to allow me to communicate on my terms, not on theirs. And uh I I just enjoy knowing about these ten ways and sharpening my discernment so that I can I can do that. The Lord uh uses I can't say he's used angelic visitation with me, but uh most of the other ones I've experienced from time uh and we're gonna get right into the one of them that um that I needed to be sharpened on uh in a few years ago. So I'm glad we're opening up with this one.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Yes, I'm really excited about this one as well. So we've heard that sometimes God speaks through the night, sometimes he speaks in moments that we simply can't explain. But one of the most consistent ways God speaks is through something far more ordinary. He speaks through other people. So let's dive into how the Lord uses relationships, authority, and community to communicate his will. Um, so he speaks about this several times in scriptures. For instance, Philippians 4.19, and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Ecclesiastes 4, 9, and 10, two are better than one. I love this verse, by the way, because they have a good reward for their labor, for if they fall, one will lift up his companion, but woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. I think we need to stop on that one for a moment. I I find this verse to be so comforting all the time. Um, when I have friends that call me, I actually had a friend call me this morning and she was just beside herself, going, you know, I'm just being attacked on so many levels. And I sat and tried to figure out what I can do, what's gonna happen? She goes, and all of a sudden I was like, call Britney, just see if she'll pray with you. Because it was a moment where you can't make sense of it, you can't fix it. And I have a very hard time with that because I'm a problem solver in our business that we work in. We're problem solvers. We look at the problem, we find ways to fix it. And so, like you, a little bit in that way, where your brain is just on go and ready to solve things. I felt like that a little bit this morning, but I knew, like, and I said to her, there's no way to fix this. We just have to pray. And two are better than one. So let's link arms together and let's intercede at the throne together. I feel like this is just so beautiful because if you envision yourself walking along and falling, you're right. You're toast if you're up in the mountain and you fall. Like, where are you gonna go? What are you gonna do? I really enjoy that.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Yes. So um, I'm glad she was sensitized, sensitive to contacting you. She allowed the Lord to prompt her to make that call. And thankfully you were um responsive to her. Um, so woe to him or her who is alone when they fall, for there's no one to help them up. And man, I tell you, for those of us, you know, this America, for those of us who live here, and we pride ourselves sometimes on being independent and handling our own business and you know, being autonomous, we actually measure that as one of the traits in our Winslow profile. And there's people that are a little too high in autonomy because when the Lord wants to send another individual who has a gift ministry, uh, if we reject that individual, shame on us because that's the Lord's gift to us to have done. And uh I had a gentleman a few years ago, he was not a wealthy man by any means, and he offered to buy me lunch sometime. We went to out to a little uh small restaurant, and he said, I'll get the check. And I said, No, forget about it, I'll get it. I had the resources, and he said something to me, Riddney, he said, Don't steal my blessing. Gosh, that was powerful. I hadn't thought of it that way. He recognized that he was out of his lack of resources, he was giving to me and he knew that that would be seen in heaven as as something very worthwhile, something sac sacrificial. And he said, Don't steal my blessing. I've never forgotten that. And that's an example of how other people can can be in our life and and we can um we the Lord is just bl uh blesses us with moments like that. Um so there's there's a there's another story that that uh you know we were reading in the Bible and was it Mark 2? You had a passage you wanted to read about uh about when Jesus was in a house and there was a crowd in the house and and this uh some friends came with us. Go ahead, tell us that story.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

In Mark 2, verses 1 through 5, we talk about the paralytic man. So it says, and again he, which is Jesus, entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. So this was a packed house of we want to see Jesus. And he preached the word to them. Then they came to him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men, and when they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you. I mean that gives me chills.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

What a story. So let's I I like to build an image in my mind as you're talking. So here's Jesus in the middle of a very crowded house. People are really being blessed by him. They're his teaching, he's probably healing people, he's doing his ministry.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

And these friends come with a paralytic man and they want to get in that house, but they just can't get in. It's too too much of a crowd. So they go, they look at the roof and they go, hmm. I I like people who go, hmm, and they start thinking, what if, what about? They climb up on the top of this house on the roof, tear the roof up. And we're not talking about some thatch here. We're talking about the roof of a house, concrete or whatever they had, right? And they bust that thing open and let this man down on a cot. And here he comes, go back into the middle of the house. Here's Jesus, and here's this roof torn up, and this man's coming through the ceiling on a cot with the four ropes. Just pause that and you go, it makes you curious, if nothing else. And here he comes, and Jesus looks up at the four friends, and he's he saw their faith, not the guy on the cot. And I I read that's why we have this uh this uh podcast called Episode Passages, rather. In this particular episode, we have this, it's called Passages because we're willing to stop and look at a single word and and it's uh their faith. When I read that word, it stopped me in my tracks. And I said, so so faith can be transferred if one person has it and the other person doesn't. And I I tell you what, that that has moved me. I have used that because I've been given a gift of faith. I don't lay any claim to it. I didn't work for it, I didn't earn it. But here I have faith, and even with my devotion to science and math and truth and everything else, I have tremendous faith. I have to admit that people have commented. And I have lent that faith to others uh in the past. So uh we can get into that if you like.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

I absolutely do want to get into that for a moment. Well, two things really. I want to circle back to what you said about don't steal my blessing, because I hadn't thought of this before. But uh do you remember Mary in the Bible? I think it was like John chapter 12, and Mary anointed Jesus' feet, and Judas was like, What are you doing? Like, that is expensive. And essentially he was trying to steal her blessing by going, No, you shouldn't be doing that in this moment. And these men who back in those times, I can't imagine that a paralytic man had much to offer to your life. He couldn't work, he couldn't really do anything for you. But yet these men saw value in him and their faith produced this beautiful healing. I think sometimes that we forget God puts community around us for that reason. And going into the faith portion, you have said to me, and many times when I have been down and out going, I just don't know what to do, Brittany. You can borrow my faith. And I didn't understand it when you first told me that. But when I was able to process it through, one day I was just crying and praying, and I was like, I want to borrow Eric's faith right now because I don't have anything. And in that moment, there was so much peace that poured over me that I was like, I have to understand this more because this doesn't make sense. And it is just this that other people can surround you, and because of their faith and you're linked with them, they can help you through it.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Oh, yes. There's so much in that report, goodness. So I had offered you whenever you want to receive it. I have some faith. It's like borrowing a cup of flour from a next door neighbor. Okay, you can borrow things, you can borrow their lawnmower. But I maintain, given what this story is in Mark II, you can borrow faith. But somebody has to give it the four men on the roof, and somebody has to receive it, the paralytic man. He had to trust them enough that he would allow them, it had to be scary, to come down through the roof. And and here is a story where you received it when you needed it. And I maintain that faith is the currency of heaven. It's the way that you quote, do business with heaven. If you had faith of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, be removed. So Jesus continually talked about the power of faith. And you know, the the the uh the centurion who said, I too am a man under authority. And I know that you have authority from somewhere, Jesus. Otherwise you couldn't get this stuff done. You exhibit this power. And Jesus converted that to his guys. He said, Do you see this man's faith? I haven't seen this much in all of Israel. Uh I had a client who lived in eastern Tennessee, and he was a young guy in his mid-30s, and gonna have an operation the next day on his heart because they found a congenital uh problem with his heart valve. And I called him and I said, How are you doing? He says, Well, if I'm telling the truth, I'm a little nervous about this procedure. And I told him this idea, Mark II, about borrowing faith. And I said, So I'm willing to lend you some of mine, but it's not enough that I lend it. It's up to you to receive it.

unknown 12:56

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

And I said, Would you be willing to receive it? He said, Yes. I then prayed for him and he said that it gave him a peace. It gave him a peace that m transcended understanding. Again, not my peace, but God's peace, because that was entering into the room. And then the next day the surgery went flawlessly. And I'm not saying it was all connected, but hey, uh who am I to say what is? Uh we just have to be ready to do things God's way.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

And this is just an idea. He told that story to his pastor who said, I've never heard of such a thing as this. And so that he went to go preach on it, I think, the following Sunday. So we've got something going on here when we talk about other people, item number five on your list of ways we communicate God communicates with us. And so I'm um and he even says in Isaiah 43, 4, Since you were precious in my sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you. Therefore I will give men for you and people for your life. So God speaks through especially covenant relationships. Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. So we want to be sensitive to the people God brings in our life and not be dismissive, not be so independent that we're unwilling to receive these gift ministers and this and the love and the friendship that people want to offer us. You may have experienced that yourself.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Absolutely. Being able to be surrounded by community has been the biggest life-changing event in my life. I never had friends to rely on, to depend on. And I remember when God stripped away every friend in my life, stripped away my marriage, stripped away everything to where it was just me and God. That was it. And then he started building up this beautiful community around me. And I remember thinking, like, God, why are you doing this? What are you giving me? What's happening? And it was all for a purpose and a season to be able to be surrounded and supported in the times that I needed. I've never experienced anything like it. And I I encourage anyone who is struggling with friendships through marriages, through anything, ask God what to do. Tell him to show up and show out in your life. And it's not gonna look pretty if you have relied on yourself to create friendships just the way that you wanted them done, or friendships out of convenience, or things like that. If they're not biblical, they're gonna go. Uh, so be prepared for that. But what he will renew and restore is going to be so much better than you know, he said that more than you could ever think or imagine. And that's what he's done for me. He's just in such a beautiful way.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

That's great. That's great. And it's lifted burdens for you, I believe.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

Oh monumentally. Monumentally.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Yes. So through other people, surround yourself with the right community through God, ask him, he will do so. So we've talked about this community now. Let's talk about you know, we've well, we've talked about the ways that God speaks that are outward, through angels, through scriptures, through dreams, through people, but scripture also shows us that some of the ways God speaks are deeply internal. So not an external voice, but more like an inner witness. And this is like an inner sense of peace through his presence. This goes through our conscience and through spiritual awareness. Um, some of the scriptures that pops up here are like Romans 2, 14 and 15. It says, For when Gentiles do not have the law, for when gentiles do not have the law, do instinctively the things of the law, these not having the law, are a law to themselves. That's a lot for one. So we're gonna have to cover this verse. In that they show the work of the law written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternatively accusing or self or else defending them. My goodness, that's a mouthful. Let's dive into that verse real quick.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Yeah, I don't want to spend too much time, but the key word is their conscience. And and I just want to bring out that that even non-believers can have a conscience. They can they can drive them to do things that are holy or unholy. And we we want to be a aware of that. Uh, you know, I marvel sometimes at people doing some awful things and because I believe they have a conscience, but it's possible to sear one's conscience, to sear it. And it's like you sear some food when you're getting ready to cook it. Okay. So there's there's the possibility of searing so that it the conscience is no longer sensitized. And we this is a whole nother topic. So if we want to um be able to hear from God and have this inner sense, noticing noting that the conscience that we have or that others have is one important thing. And that same subject came up in Romans 14 when there were certain new believers who were okay with eating meat that had been offered to idols, and I'm talking about idols of other faiths. And some and some were okay eating that meat, some were not. And they the the subject came up to Paul, and Paul said, Look, this is not a matter of right and wrong, this is not a matter of good and evil, but those of you whose conscience is more sensitive and whose faith is stronger need to yield to those who are quote weaker. And and don't don't use your faith as a as a uh as a weapon against other people's uh faith. So, you know, that it's just I marvel at the subtlety of how Paul was able to do that. So it's it's a subject we can skip over quite easily, but this idea of conscience is an important one. So when when God wants to speak to us in that inner sense of the presence of God, which is this item number six, I think um we we want to call we want to look for conscience to be the guide. And even though it uh and that's what what Paul is going into in Romans 2 and Romans 14.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

I feel like we need a quick reminder of our conscience is for ourselves, not for other people. So I can definitely think of myself in this one in ways that I used to think and feel and act, and I would suddenly have this guilty conscience about listening to a certain type of music or watching a certain type of show on TV. I remember, I hate to admit this, but I'm gonna admit it. I remember watching the show called The Righteous Gemstones, and it was like a very satire show about Christians and how essentially they are all just doing terrible things in the background. They would make fun of God, they would make fun of like absolutely everything. And in that time in my life, I was so angry with the church and the things that had been done there that I was watching this going, yes. And it's it's a very, it's a very obnoxiously bad show towards God. But I remember not feeling anything about it and being like, yep, this is funny. And I remember I showed it to my dad when he came up here once. And my dad just looked at me and he goes, I have to leave the room. I can't watch this. And I remember like feeling this little thing in my stomach of like, hmm, okay. My dad is he very much so believes in God and he has this conscience about it. And that's interesting. But I continued to watch the show. About a year later, I remember seeing they had a new season come out, and I was in a completely different walk with God. And as soon as I saw that it was like on the TV, my stomach was immediately upset. And I, the first couple words I heard, I was like, I can't listen to that. I can't watch that. That's not right. And I remembered back to that moment. And I had a couple of friends that watched it, and my first instinct was to become judgmental and self-righteous and be like, hey, you can't watch that. That's not a good show. But I remember what my dad did. He didn't say anything to me about you can't do this, this is bad for you. He just said, My personal conscience is telling me I can't watch this. And he left. And I thought that was the most beautiful representation of how we should be, that our conscience is for us, not for other people. And God will move within us when the time is right.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

There you go. Well, great story. That's a great testimony right there.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

So uh that's just one more thing that we can um we can be it's one more way that the Lord can communicate with us is through our conscience. And the more sensitized it is, the more aware we are, like your dad was, and a year later you were. So But you used another phrase that I just want to emphasize, and that is self righteous. We don't we just don't want to cross over into being self righteous. Boy, I've seen that and it's it's it's wounding. It's damaging. It's hurtful.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

So Yes, it pushes people farther away when you decide to tell them what they should and shouldn't be doing.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

In First Timothy one, eighteen and nineteen, it also says, This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. So I just hear, like, hey, Britney, it was your opportunity right then to feel it. And if you didn't, you kind of shipwrecking yourself. But you know, telling my dad, keep up the good faith, show her the right example, do the right thing so that they can come along when they're supposed to come along. That helped me tremendously.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

Great.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

But another part is our sense of peace or joy. So not just our conscience, but along comes with that our peace or joy. So Philippians 4 7 says, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. I love when you point out that it says all. So all, not some, not a little bit, all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Just knowing that he brings peace is incredibly helpful. So we see there that he gives us the inner sense of our conscience, how we're supposed to hear that, not for other people. He gives us peace. And then we kind of dive into another way that God speaks with us. So this is one that's tough, I think, for everyone at some point. So God speaks within us, but he also speaks through the structures that he's established. And those structures are through family, government, business, and spiritual leaders. That's a tough one.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

Well, God is operates through government. Not only does he have a kingdom government, but he also operates by setting up authority figures in the lives of believers. And uh uh Paul wrote a very strong verse about this in Romans 13, when he said, Let every soul, that's you and me, be subject to the governing authorities. Okay, which governing authorities? For there is no authority except from God. Wait a minute. That means even what we consider to be bad authorities, people that were opposed to politically or or uh in terms of their leadership, their morals, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. Do you know where the church grows the most is in some of the darkest, terrible places. There are there's the church is growing in China, for instance, and the the leaders are saying, Don't come over and try to help us, don't try to avoid the persecution. We we grow best in a spirit of persecution towards us. I mean it's hard to believe, but these I mean when we think about how the church spread in the first century after Jesus' resurrection, um, it spread because the the persecution that was taking place, people said, I'm out of here. And it it just manifested across uh the Mediterranean region. So, and even in Hebrews 13 17, obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves, for they watch over your souls as they that must give account. So these leaders, these authorities that we have, have to give an account back to heaven for the condition of our soul, that they may do it with joy and not with grief. That is unprofitable for you. So, you know, when when there are people who watch over us, and they are there to provide an uh an authority, a leadership position, accountability, and this is how the Lord operates, this is how the kingdom of God operates. And so I had a um a gentleman that I was working with, he was an entrepreneur, he'd been successful in his early 30s, started a new business. He and I got together, and I saw on his uh Windsor profile that he had a low score in coachability. And I said, That usually indicates that you have a problem with authority. And he says, Well, tell me more. And I said, Well, there are four kinds of authority that the Lord has set up family, government, business, and spiritual leadership. I said, Do you have a problem with any of those? And he said, Well, I don't with um family and spiritual leaders, but I do with government and business. And I said, Well, if you have a problem with it in business, you're going to attract rebels into your enterprises. And his eyes got his biggest silver dollars, and he said, Oh my goodness, I started a business four months ago and I've already got rebellion and problems going on in that. Do you think that's connected? I said, Definitely. So this is how we can provide practical earth earthly counsel to people uh by using spiritual principles. They are there is a there's a practical outworking of these principles. They they have application in our lives and in our families, in our businesses, in our churches, our communities. So yeah, there's another one just uh to for us to think to contemplate. Discern who your authority figures are, and the Bible says obey them that have the rule over you. Submit yourselves. I had someone ask me in over 20 years ago, you need to figure out who your spiritual father is. Okay, and I'd never heard the phrase or the term before. Uh, but uh I've always thought in terms of structures like a pastor or a bishop or somebody with a capital letter in front of their name.

SPEAKER_03 28:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

And I that's all I understood. And so uh this fellow was talking about a relationship, not a structure. And I said, Well, I just blurted out, well, you are. I I knew by revelation, even though I'd never heard the term before, it wasn't a matter of analysis and logic, it was a matter of relationship. And the Lord inspired me at that moment to affirm that this gentleman was and had that role, and it's been that way for 22 years. So I'm very grateful to to have somebody in my life who is appointed to watch over um my soul and its condition and to be able to speak truth to me.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

Uh and that's the other thing is I'll ask people sometimes who is allowed to tell you no? Who is who is and you receive it? Who is allowed to say no? That's not in your best interest, that's that's not, and that you'll receive it as opposed to pushing back, well, that's your opinion and debate about it and everything else. So um that's that's a tough thing. Again, this America. Right. You know, we we don't like anybody to quote rule over us like the Bible says. So that's something to make pay attention to. Um, but let's keep going. What else we got?

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Yes, and I feel like uh just a side note, a lot of the times it comes down to trust. And you know, when we don't trust people, when we've been hurt so many times, it's hard to trust authority, but we have to realize where our foundation is and to be able to trust God that he's putting the right authority figures in place for us.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

So God speaks internally, he speaks relationally, he speaks through authority, but scripture also shows us that all of creation, all of creation itself carries the fingerprints of his voice. Let's talk about how God speaks through creation and nature, actually. In Psalms 19:1, it says the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. I see that every day when I walk outside. Absolutely beautiful. Romans 1.20, for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that the people are without excuse. Romans 8.22, for we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Man, just over and over again, he's like, Hey, everything you see, everything around you is something I've placed there for you. Pay attention.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Yes, and even the lack of of um creative resources. We think of Elijah, who when Ahab and Jezebel were trying to chase him down to kill him, this mighty prophet, he was taken out into the wilderness, and the ravens fed him supernaturally, and the brook uh fed him, gave him, provided water for him, and he knew when it was time to move on, when the brook dried up. Okay, so the absence of a resource was an indication to him that it was time to move on, and he was safe now. So uh that's we don't want to be mad when the Lord takes away a resource. Uh he we want to be inquiring of of okay, is this time to move on to the next venture? So yeah, we we just want to be sensitive. There are people who are um more aware of and sensitive to what goes on in nature and they're drawn to it. And I I admire that they the the God's creation speaks to them. And uh there's a rhythm in nature, there's a rhythm rhythm in God's creation, and being aware of it and l and uh uh um learning from it uh are are wonderful. I I may not be a person as personally as uh sensitive to it as others, but I I I know people who are just very aware. They're just they can just sense when the wind is shifting and when the light is shifting and and they they're they love gardening and they love letting um at little animals uh and in dealing with them little whether it's kittens or bunnies or you name it, they're just uh they they'll talk to them, they'll name them. It's like okay. So they have, yeah, they have uh they're just what it's what a wonderful attenuation to um to creation in nature.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

So anyway, good bringing it into 2026 because I love nature. I call myself a lizard a lot because I love to be outside and just bask in the sun. And I remember I was at the pool this past summer and I was having a really tough day. And I was just like, God, can you just show me something like I just want to feel you and have you around me? And all of a sudden, out of absolutely nowhere, there was this butterfly that would not leave me alone. When I tell you this thing just landed on me multiple, multiple times, landed on my feet, landed on my shoulder, just everywhere I would move, wouldn't go to anybody else. And there was a lot of people around me. And I just started giggling because I was like, okay, I asked you to show me that you're here. And to me and to everyone else in the world, if you look up kind of what do butterflies mean, it's like rebirth and hope and transformation. And so in those moments, I was asking for hope. And now all of a sudden, this butterfly is just sitting with me. And I'm like, okay, Lord, I hear you. And I had so much peace in that moment, yeah, just through something so simple.

SPEAKER_01 33:55

What a wonderful example.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

Yes, I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

So we've talked about God speaking through what he created, but there are also moments in scripture when God speaks in ways that leaves no room, no room for interpretation. Moments when his voice is not internal, it's not symbolic, it's not mediated, but when it's audible. And he speaks to people. In Genesis 3:8, it said, and they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden and in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden. I mean, just knowing that he can speak in Matthew 3:17, and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Going back to what you just said about Matthew and what Jesus heard in his baptism, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. That notice the phrase that was used, a beloved son, not my beloved Messiah, not a beloved rabbi, not a great moral teacher, although he was all those things, but he was my beloved son. So here was God ident putting an identity on this man Jesus, letting folks know this is my son. Okay, that's that's powerful to confer identity. And this is what I would say to parents, especially to fathers, you you have the right and ability to confer an identity to your children. And even in the way that they're named at birth. I'm not saying it's an everyday experience, but um be aware that to to permit the Lord to speak to you and not be thinking that that um that you invented it or that it's fictitious. No. Um the Lord needs to be able to speak to his children, to his people, uh, at his discretion.

SPEAKER_00 35:59

Absolutely. I remember one time I was questioning doing something, and I was standing in my room, and all of a sudden it was like somebody was standing right behind my shoulder and just yelled, Go. And I immediately I turned around to see if somebody was there because I was like, This is no, this doesn't make sense. Like, somebody can't be behind me, and nobody was there, but I knew exactly what to do, and I knew exactly what he was telling me to do. And I was like, that is the only time I have ever heard an audible voice. And it was shocking. And I thought for a while that I was crazy and losing my mind, but he showed me through my actions that I took that it was absolutely the right decision, and I just needed that push. So I feel like I have heard him at least one time in my life tell me to do something.

SPEAKER_01 36:47

And I was like, Did go mean like run? That's how I would have taken it.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

So it was yes, it was a decision to go like um run downstairs and do something in my house.

SPEAKER_02 37:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

And I was just kind of questioning back and forth on if I should do it or when or where. And it was the loudest yell in my ear. I was shaken, yes. So he definitely can speak. That was the only time that I've ever had that happen, though. So very, very interesting, shocking. But he does many, many different things. And, you know, the next part that we're gonna talk about is another one of those things where it's like, okay, what's going on? So sometimes God speaks through his words, through impressions, through people, and through his audible voice. But scripture also shows us that at times God doesn't just speak, he acts through supernatural events. So these are miracles, divine interventions, impossible provisions. You know, when we think nothing can happen, we look up type of provisions. Um, in Matthew 17, 27, it says, Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the first fish, take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money. Take that and give it to them for me and you. So tell us a little bit about this story.

SPEAKER_01 38:09

Well, uh Peter, who's a bit of a hothead, is walking through this town, and he's uh kind of accosted by a couple of um tax collectors from the from the temple. And he said, They said, Does your master pay the temple tax? Kind of a challenging comment. And Peter said, Yes, and he ran in the house, and Jesus knew exactly what the conversation was about to be, and he asked uh Peter a question Of whom do kings and governors charge taxes to their sons or to strangers? And Peter said, To strangers, he said, Then the sons are free. Here's my favorite word. Nevertheless, uh in order to avoid offense, uh go down to the and this is where it says, Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. Goodness gracious. That's faith right there. And open its mouth, and you will find a piece of money. It was a coin, and it happened to be a tetra drachma, tetra four drachma is a coin, and that was the exact amount that the of the temple tax for two people. And so that's instantaneous supply at the moment of need. That's a supernatural event. I'm not saying every one of us can operate at that level, but Jesus certainly did, and he's encouraging us to observe it and maybe to try it and see. Sometimes it might just it might just work. Or we can be looking around and find a supernatural event that occurred just for us. So that's one, and then I notice you got Jonah and the whale. Um the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. So we've heard that story.

SPEAKER_02 39:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 40:00

You know, it seems uh uh extraordinary, but that's a supernatural event that happened to this man because he was defying the Lord. So it's it's a warning to the rest of us be careful. It's a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

Yes, I think Jonah also shows that even in our disobedience, sometimes God can use that and flip that all around too, because he was running away. He said, Hard pass on anything you want me to do. I'm out. And God was like, I'm gonna use that disobedience, and I'm gonna use you anyways.

SPEAKER_01 40:33

That's good. That's good. Then in that dramatic of all time. Everybody knows the next the next one.

SPEAKER_00 40:40

Yes, parting of the Red Sea. Yes. So in Exodus 14, 13 through 18, um, we have the parting of the Red Sea, where Moses said to his people, do not be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. I feel like we should just have that tattooed on us. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. And the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward, but lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea, and I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am Lord, when I have gained honor for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. Woo. When I tell you sometimes that we just have to be obedient when it doesn't make sense, who knew that God was going to part the sea when he's like, just stretch your rod out over this and let's let's giddy up across? Like, that doesn't happen. But he was obedient and he did it, nevertheless.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

Okay. Yes, despite I've never seen that happen before, but Moses had such extraordinary faith. This man was like 80 years old at this point. He was a fugitive from justice, he'd been accused of murder when he was forty. And and yet he goes back to Pharaoh, invokes the ten plagues, and then Pharaoh finally says, Go. And they the people of Israel gave them great wealth to capitalize their new nation. And what an extraordinary story. And yet they had gone through 400 years of slavery uh and finally the Lord liberated them as they cried out to him. So uh again, there are ten ways that the Lord speaks. Uh we don't want to restrict him from how he gets through to us. One and it might vary from moment to moment, day to day. Just being aware and and let let him prompt us in our spirit and let us let him provide a uh logos word when necessary. Let him uh allow various people to come in our lives who offer encouragement or uh service of one kind or another. Um we just don't want to be guilty of trying to override what the Lord has in store for us. It's just that's just spiritual arrogance. And and it's uh it's it's dangerous because then we're s we're uh guilty of iniquity. Lord, look what I did in your name. And uh Jesus is gonna say to us and it's in the last day. I understand this is the this is talking about the end times, but in the last day, many will come to him and say, Look what we did in your name. And he's like, No, I tried to get through to you, my father tried to speak to you and you didn't respond. So be gone. I never knew you. Good grief. There's some hard conversations coming for some of us. unless we get this thing right. Allow him to start speaking and repent if we haven't heard uh from him or if we haven't um received what he had to say to us before this point before this point.

SPEAKER_00 44:15

Yes. So so across these two episodes, we've walked through ten different ways that scripture shows us how God speaks. Some are dramatic, some are quiet, some are external, some are deeply internal. But maybe the real question isn't does God speak? But am I learning how he speaks to me? As you leave today's episode, ask the Lord the simple prayer God, make me sensitive to your voice, however you choose to speak to me.

SPEAKER_01 44:44

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

Until next time, guys.

SPEAKER_01 44:47

Thank you so much, Brittany.

unknown 44:48

Okay