Find God’s voice in the sea of voices

[notice]A new monthly column for young ladies by Kate Fitz-Gibbon[/notice]

Hello young heart. I’m Kate, and I love you. I don’t know you but I know your heart, and its beautiful. You’re beautiful. I know that when God looks at you He see’s a royal princess, so that’s who I see too.

I’m 29 years old and you’re probably younger than me, but we have so much in common, hopes, dreams, and loves. So I’ve decided to write a column here on Gateway News just for you, so we can chat about the things that really matter.

I have been hanging out and ministering to girls around your age for a few years now and every time I am blown away by each of you. You leave an impression on me.

I have so much faith in who God made you to be, I could say, lets pack our bags tomorrow to go tour the world and bring heaven everywhere we go. I think you would say yes if I dialed your number, because inside of you is a deep desire to be the miracle and the message that God has made you to be.

For now, we have this column. It’s in this space that I’ll be brave enough to share my thoughts, and hopefully that will inspire you to be brave and share yours.

Your voice counts
You have a voice, and if there is one thing I want you to know, is that your voice counts.

Growing up my parents always believed in me, encouraged me and stood by me, through my bright shining moments, and the extremely stupid ones. I wonder who I would be if they didn’t believe, and I know how privileged I am to have them.

Not everyone has that, and yet we all need someone to believe in us. Whenever someone believes in you, it feels as if your world gets a whole lot wider, and suddenly there are more possibilities than you saw before.

Jesus believes in you, and I do too.

Let that be the base of our interaction here.

First conversation topic
So what have I decided our first topic of conversation is?

There is so much going on in the world right now. Every day there seems to be something epic happening. From world politics to celeb marriage dissolves, from religious wars to pastors stepping down, and let’s not forget the hundreds of articles that are published every week on how to live your best life.

In all of this, we have so many voices surrounding us. Voices from social media, our friends, our church, other people’s church, school, family, movies, the net and all that.

Everyone seems to have an opinion and the answers on how to do things. It can get so overwhelming when you are trying to find the truth.

So how do you know who to listen to, who to believe and what the right answers are for you?

Ultimately its God’s voice you are really looking for, to know what He is saying to you. If you know His voice, and trust Him, then you’ll be able to follow what He’s saying and everything will be well with your soul.

Ten tips to filter through the voices
I’m going to share some tips I’ve learnt to filter through the sea of voices and find what is right for you. Then you can leave the rest of the stuff and travel through life with light luggage and a free spirit.

1. In the midst of any storm, God is speaking, and He wants you to hear Him. Learning to hear His voice is not hard because He will move heaven and earth to help you. Trust and ask Him to help you hear Him.
2. Stay in God’s presence. In His presence there is fullness of joy, so anything that interrupts that joy will have to leave when you’re with Him, and then you know it wasn’t meant to be there in the first place.
3. The truth always sets you free. When something rings true for you, you will see a greater freedom come in your life by choosing to live that truth.
4. Holy Spirit is peace. If you have peace inside, keep going because you’re on the right track. If what is being said causes confusion, fear, chaos, anxiety, depression, or deep hurt in you then it’s not God.
5. Measure everything according the greatest force, love. Is what is being said or done, done in love? Does it inspire love and bring more true pure love into your life? Does it increase your connection with God?
6. Get to know who God says you are and stick with that. Ask God every day for the next month, God who do you say I am? If anything else comes up that is contrary to what He has said, trash it and never look back.
7. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, like, how does that make me feel? Why do I feel like that? How does that make other people feel? Why is someone really saying what they’re saying? Do I really need to be listening to this right now or is it only going to distract me?
8. It’s okay to acknowledge somebody’s view point, even if you don’t agree with them. Don’t be afraid to explore new ideas, it doesn’t mean you have to compromise who you are by accepting who they are. We are all learning and growing and we really don’t have the full picture. There have been so many times I thought I was right, only to discover I only had one tiny piece of the puzzle.
9. Sometimes what someone is saying is good, and it may be true, but it’s not for now. It may be helpful for you down the line, but right now it could lead you down a path of distraction. Ask the question, is this for me now or is it for later? If it’s for later its okay to space bank it and not feel bad.
10. It’s more than okay to hear wrong sometimes. When you do, finish your smoothie, pick up your backpack and keep moving forward because you’re awesome and God is setting up new opportunities for your success around the next corner.

This column will be published once a month, so until next time, you can check out and follow my blog www.bestlivin.com for poetry, prayers and ideas I’ve scribbled down.

Lots of love.
Kate