How to Listen to That Voice Inside

“One early morning around three o’clock as my husband and I was sleeping soundly, our four-year-old son somehow managed to unlock our front door and leave the house on an adventure! He walked all the way down our neighborhood block by himself in the dark.

“Eventually, he turned around and started back but got confused about which house was ours. Thankfully, he ended up in the yard of our next-door neighbors and tried to ride one of the bicycles left outside by their children that day making plenty of noise in the process. Several minutes later we were awakened by a loud knocking on our door.

“Being cautious, we didn’t want to open the door to a stranger in the middle of the night. So, we yelled through the door, ‘Who is it!?’ Our neighbor said to open the door because she had our son with her! ‘No way. That’s not possible,' I said. 'He’s asleep in his bed.’ Her voice (which I then recognized) came back with a panicked shout, ‘OPEN THE DOOR NOW!’

“Finally, we were convinced and opened the door. There stood our son in his pajamas, happy as could be. When questioned, he said he just wanted to find his new bicycle. We discovered that night what sleep-walking can do even to a child. And we were grateful for the wisdom of a good neighbor who listened to her own intuition in the middle of the night.” [B.C. 1973]

Possibilities and Imagination

Has that ever happened to anyone else? No, maybe not that same situation, but something that caused us to stop and listen to what’s going on in our minds. A moment when we are not sure what to do, but suddenly something tells us to turn around and go a different way or to stop and speak to that person we hardly know but who ends up helping us in a sticky situation.

Sometimes our thoughts, or intuition, will lead us into believing something is possible or likely. In fact, our gut feeling may have prompted us exactly like that when we finally made the decision to start a new single-again life. We saw it as a possibility. It may not have been our decision to begin with but slowly we listened to our own thoughts and started planning our future with some imagination.

No matter which stages we are in right now—shock, denial, fear, possibility, or I-can-do-this attitude—the fact remains, life goes on with or without us. So, let’s not get left behind and buried in the chaos of the past. Creating a life of peace and joy may be difficult, yes, but oh, so very worth it!

Welcome the Voice Inside

We all have voices inside from the time we are born. They direct us to choose right from wrong, truth from lies, friends from enemies, and harmony from pandemonium. The main question is then, how can we learn to recognize and separate the voices playing tug-of-war in our heads?

Maybe, just maybe, training our ears to accept the most decent and honorable paths will bring us our best life. To begin, we need to develop practices and patterns to help us stay on track, and then they will just become second nature to us. Try these one at a time and keep adding to them.

Comfort… life can be scary much of the time depending on which direction the world is going and, more importantly, how we respond to it. But there is one sure way we can practice this life-giving habit. Every morning open this amazing book called the Holy Bible and spend just a bit of time reading and listening to the heavenly voice of God. He will direct our best path.      

Trust… humanly speaking, it is difficult to trust just anyone. We know this from our previous relationship(s). But we can build better, more trustworthy friendships if we try.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! you too? I thought I was the only one.’” [C.S. Lewis]

In the end, we need to remember, God is the only One whom we can put our faith in 100 percent of the time.

Prayer… Nothing we try will be more important than developing a habit of prayer. Many people don’t realize it’s not necessary to be inside a church building to pray or memorize a long, drawn-out prayer by rote.

In fact, the best thing about prayer is it’s simply a conversation with God. Since He is everywhere all the time, He can hear us speaking to Him and we don’t need any special words. Even just a one-line request, “Help me, God, to do well in this interview” is enough for Him to answer.      

“Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or the left” (Isaiah 30:21 NLT).

Who Do You Believe and Trust In?

Purple sky

We are mentally able to believe in many things. Some commendable and some ridiculous. There remains a society that believes the earth is flat! In 1995, a patent was given for a Fork Alarm to time one’s eating! Now there’s something we could use. How many people do we know that are superstitious? All it takes to believe some things are a faith conviction that it is possible. 

More reasonable, however, we often believe people we know rather than strangers or even celebrities. Our parents probably had an influence on us, and we believed they could do just about anything (based on how much we trusted them). Growing up, teachers, grandparents, siblings, friends, and pastors were on our list of those we trusted. We may or may not have had a spouse we could trust, until one day we couldn’t anymore for many good reasons including lack of integrity and dishonesty.

What About Faith?

Faith in someone’s character, therefore, is built on trust and knowledge. It isn’t something we can see or touch, but it is something that is unseen, like the wind. We can feel the wind on our skin and see it moving a tree branch or leaf, and so, we believe it exists. We know what it “feels like” to trust someone and so, over time, we believe in that person.   

The Bible tells us “faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.” Of course, that statement is not to be taken literally. It is just pointing out that it takes very little true faith in something or someone to believe in possibilities.

As single-again women (and that includes divorced, widowed, and single moms), we have already “jumped over” many hurdles and stumbling blocks in our way on the road to possibilities. Our fresh start journey has not been easy by any means. But we found a way to grow that tiny mustard seed, and now we are watching it bloom large in our life. And we must keep on growing and thriving. So, how do we do that?

Seven Proven Faith Possibilities

1. We are stronger than we think: we have made it this far and are in one piece.
2. We have seen the worse in someone: we know that trust is built up over time.
3. We have a clear purpose: we are starting to recognize unfulfilled dreams.
4. We know which direction to take: going forward gets us to our destination.
5. We know the risks: lack of faith in God leads to danger.
6. We recognize where faith originated: just like the wind, we can believe in Jesus.
7. We can know and trust God: the Bible teaches us how to do this very thing.

He Gets Us!

No matter how many times our human relationships have hurt or deceived us, our Lord Jesus knows our heartache and pain. He was distressed and rejected by his own friends and family. He was tormented and tortured by his enemies. He gets us!

The Bible: God's Word

Jesus loved us enough to be willing to die for us. And this is exactly why we can, with faith, believe Him and trust in Him. Now, He simply holds out His right hand to comfort and guide us on this fresh start journey.           

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes” (Mark 9:23 NLT).

Are You a “Possible” Woman?

Each month of the year has its own birthstone with its own unique meaning and historical significance. Emerald—a breathtaking clear, deep green--for instance, is the birthstone for May and symbolizes patience, unity, compassion, and unconditional love. In June, the pearl exhibits balance, calm, purity, integrity, and loyalty. In ancient times, color was the most important feature of a gemstone, so there was little difference then between a ruby and a garnet which are very similar to the naked eye. Today, we like to celebrate by wearing our own particular “birthstone.”

Mining for these beautiful gems seems almost impossible. Without having ever been to a mining camp, we can still imagine how difficult it probably is to dig out huge boulders, rocks, stones, and pebbles and then inspect them for their potentially beautiful “insides.” An all-consuming project for sure! However, at a gem fair, we might be able to more easily see a rock that looks rough, dull and nothing special on the outside, but when cut open, is absolutely the most beautiful thing we could see!

Impossible Odds

Some of us may even feel the same way at times. Surely, we’ve had our share of days when we feel “rough and unattractive” on the outside. Not a single piece of clothing looks good on us, our hair and make-up suddenly look strange in the mirror, and our feet are so swollen (from too much salt?) we can’t get them into our best shoes.

But we know how this goes. Our hormones have a habit of attacking us at the worse times. We are convinced we will never look or feel good again. We scream our lives are “just an impossibility.” Or so we think. But that is far from the truth. Each one of us was individually created with a unique personality and, for that matter, with a unique set of genes and hormones. Our “insides” are truly beautiful just like our birthstone gem!

I’M Possible Days

Did you notice that "impossible" begins with I-M? Yes, you are Possible! It's quite possible you are stronger than you think. Quite possible you are the best mom for your children. Possible you are creative, smart, and tenacious. Sometimes all we need is a special “moment” by ourselves or a few hours to take a breather. How might this look if we gave it a try?

·        Calling a best friend is a great way to get some perspective on our day.  

·        Distracting ourselves from what is bothering us can work wonders.

·        Turning off all electronics and having a quiet time brings peace.

·        Reading or having fun with a hobby is rejuvenating.

·        Even housecleaning can be therapeutic for some of us.

·        Try walking into a florist just to smell the flowers--it will bring a smile to your face.

·        Help someone else who is having a bad day—your impossibilities will disappear fast.

We Get the Best

Have you ever heard “God loves you!” Truly, He does love every single one of us, every single day. Even on the not-so-good days when our hormones play tricks on us!

He is the God of possibilities: Our Heavenly Father. Unlike any father on earth, He is always and forever good, kind, and loving. He’s in the business of making sure every one of His children knows how pleased He is with us when we seek Him for answers. God smiles when we each find our true purpose and gifts as women and use them to honor Him. We can count on Him.

“He replied, ‘What is impossible for people is possible with God'” Luke 18:27 NLT.

How to Describe Your Faith Possibilities

Flat Earth?

We are mentally able to believe in many things. Some commendable and some ridiculous. There still remains a society that believes the earth is flat! In 1995, a patent was given for a Fork Alarm to time one’s eating! Now there’s something we could use. How many people do we know that are superstitious? All it takes to believe some things is a faith conviction that it is possible.

More reasonable, we often believe people we know. We may or may not have had parents we believed could do just about anything, based on how much we trusted them. Growing up, we believed teachers, grandparents, siblings, friends, and our pastors. We may or may not have had a spouse we could trust, until one day we couldn’t anymore, based on their lack of integrity.

What About Faith?

Faith, therefore, is built on trust and knowledge. It isn’t something we can see or touch, but it is something that is unseen, like the wind. We can feel the wind, and so, we believe it exists. We know what it “feels like” to trust someone and so, over time, we believe in that person.   

It’s been said that “faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.” Of course, that statement is not to be taken literal. It is just pointing out that it takes very little faith in something or someone to believe.

As single-again women, we have already “jumped over” many hurdles and stumbling blocks in our way. Our journey to a fresh start has not been easy by any means. But we found a way to grow that tiny mustard seed, and now we are watching it bloom large in our life. And we must keep on growing and thriving. So, how do we do that?

Seven Proven Descriptions of Faith Possibilities

• We are stronger than we think: we have made it this far and are in one piece.
• We have seen the worse in someone: we know that trust is built up over time.
• We have a clear purpose: we are starting to recognize unfulfilled dreams.
• We know which direction to take: going forward gets us to our destination.
• We know the risks: lack of faith in God leads to danger.
• We recognize where faith originated: just like the wind, we can believe in Jesus.
• We can know and trust God: the Bible teaches us how to do this very thing.

He Gets Us!

No matter how many times our human relationships have hurt or deceived us, our Lord Jesus knows our heartache and pain. He was distressed and rejected by his own friends and family. He was tormented and tortured by his enemies. He gets us!

He loved us enough to be willing to die for us. And this is exactly why we can, with faith, believe Him and trust in Him.. Now, He simply holds out His right hand to comfort and guide us on this fresh start journey.           

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” Mark 9:23