✝️You Might Be Moving Ahead of God

Good morning, my brothers!  I moved ahead of God instead of waiting on Him, and it cost me. Here’s what the Lord is teaching me about waiting on Him, hearing His voice, and then walking obediently, immediately. Let’s go!

This week: 5-minute, 4-second read

Learning to Hear God When the Pressure Is On

I’m going through a challenging time. Not the kind you post about once it is over and neatly wrapped up with a bow, but the kind you are still walking through. The kind that presses on your chest when you wake up at night and reminds you that you do not actually have control, no matter how disciplined or faithful you try to be.

I wrote about it in the Saturday and Wednesday emails. It wasn’t easy to share, but you deserve to know the real me. (I want to thank so many of you who emailed me to encourage and strengthen me after you read the articles. It meant more than you know.)

I am not a super-Christian. I am a regular guy who wants to follow Jesus and still finds himself getting ahead of God at times. And in this season, the Lord has made it clear that my responsibility is not to hide that reality, but to let Him teach me through it and to let those lessons serve my MTM brothers as well.

A business partner and I failed to count the cost before starting a business. It is a solid concept, but we are undercapitalized. We are now in the middle of raising money, and the pressure has been heavy. Not just financially, but emotionally and spiritually. The weight has spilled over into my family life, my prayer life, and my sense of peace.

As I have prayed through it, the Lord has gently but clearly shown me where I went wrong. I moved forward without fully seeking Him. I trusted my gut instinct more than His voice. I went all in before waiting on His direction. I let greed direct my path.

And God, in His mercy, did not abandon me. As He allows me to face the consequences, He took me back to the basics. He took me to a study I did early in my walk with Christ in the 1990’s, Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God. You might remember it.

Intimacy Comes Before Direction

One of the foundational truths in Experiencing God is this: God speaks to those who have a relationship with Him. Hearing God is not about learning a formula. It flows out of intimacy.

I was reminded that the most important thing I can do in any season is not to solve the problem in front of me, but to first deepen my relationship with the One walking with me through it.

That means spending unhurried time with Him in Scripture and prayer. Not skimming for answers, but sitting with His Word. Letting a verse slow me down. Journaling what He is revealing. Paying attention to patterns, themes, and convictions He brings back again and again.

It also means standing firm in the truth of His unchanging love. When pressure rises, many of us start performing. We strive. We try to earn clarity through effort. God reminds us instead that clarity grows best in a soil of trust. Loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength is not something we do to get answers. It is how we position ourselves to hear Him.

Seeking God on the Front End

One of the most practical shifts God has been pressing into my heart is this simple prayer: “Lord, show me what You are doing so I can join You.”

Too often, I start with a plan and then ask God to bless it. Blackaby teaches that God is always at work around us, and our role is not to invent direction but to discern it.

That means seeking Him before decisions are made, not after consequences show up. It means asking for wisdom before moving forward, not clarity once momentum is already built.

Scripture is full of warnings about what happens when we rush ahead. Abraham heard God’s promise, but when the timing felt slow, he took matters into his own hands with Hagar. The result was lasting consequences. Moses, on the other hand, encountered God at the burning bush, wrestled with fear and doubt, but ultimately obeyed God’s voice. His obedience changed history.

God is not in a hurry. We usually are.

Learning to Wait on God

Waiting is one of the most difficult disciplines for men who are wired to act. But waiting on God is not passive. It is active trust.

Waiting looks like continuing to pray without forcing outcomes. It looks like sitting with a particular Scripture and asking God to shape your heart before He moves your feet. It looks like allowing His timing to refine your character, not just solve your problem or answer your prayer.

In a follow-up book Blackaby wrote with his son, Richard, When God Speaks, the Blackaby’s emphasize that God’s guidance is always consistent with His character and His Word. Waiting gives us space to test what we are hearing against those anchors, rather than reacting emotionally.

How Does God Speak Today?

God has always spoken to His people, but the methods have varied.

In the Old Testament, He spoke through prophets and, at times, directly to individuals like Abraham, Moses, and Samuel. In the Gospels, God spoke through Jesus Himself. Today, God speaks through the Holy Spirit.

He speaks primarily through Scripture. He confirms through prayer. He uses circumstances, wise counsel, and the inner prompting of the Spirit to guide us.

God’s voice never contradicts His Word. It never pushes us toward sin. It never bypasses obedience. And it always draws us closer to Christ, not toward self-reliance.

Immediate Obedience Builds Clarity

When Jesus called the disciples, He simply said, “Come, follow me.” They did not negotiate. They obeyed.

One of the clearest teachings in Experiencing God is that obedience often precedes understanding. God rarely gives us the full picture. He gives us the next faithful step.

Delayed obedience is often disguised as spiritual caution, but it is still disobedience. When God speaks clearly, our responsibility is to move, even when the outcome is uncertain.

How Do We Know It Is Really God?

This is the question most of us ask, and it is a good one.

We know that God’s voice will align with Scripture. It will be confirmed through prayer, not rushed decisions. It will be consistent with His character. It will often be affirmed through wise, godly counsel. If we are married, our wife will confirm the direction. And it will require faith and obedience, not just comfort.

God is not trying to confuse you. He desires to lead you as a Father leads His son.

Our role is simple, though not easy.

Spend time with Him daily. Pray honestly. Wait patiently. Seek what He is already doing. And when He speaks, walk forward in obedience, even if it does not make sense yet.

That is where peace is found. That is where intimacy grows. And that is where God shapes you and me as men.

Reflection: Hearing God and Responding in Obedience

1. How would you honestly measure your love relationship with the Lord right now? Look at the evidence, not the intention. Over the past week, how much delight and priority have you given to time with Him in Scripture, prayer, and biblical fellowship? What does that reveal about where your heart truly is?

2. Where have you been tempted to move ahead of God instead of waiting on Him? What decision, pressure, or opportunity are you trying to solve with instinct, urgency, or control rather than patient prayer and discernment?

3. In what ways might God already be speaking to you through His Word, prayer, circumstances, or wise counsel that you have been slow to acknowledge, trust, or act on?

4. What specific step of obedience is God asking you to take right now, even if the outcome is unclear, uncomfortable, or costly? Name it clearly. Delayed obedience is still disobedience.

5. Who can you invite into accountability this week to help you seek God on the front end, wait faithfully, and hold you accountable to walk in obedience once He speaks?

-Will