God’s Voice or Just a Really Loud Opinion?

So how do we actually discern God’s voice in the noise of our everyday lives? With Lent beginning tomorrow, it’s the perfect time to start filtering out the distractions and tuning in to what actually matters.

If It Only Ever Agrees with You, It’s Probably Not God

We all know the tendency: sometimes we want God’s voice to be a rubber stamp on our own opinions. If your so-called divine inspiration always tells you what you already wanted to hear—whether that’s to buy the $600 ergonomic chair because “your body is a temple” or to ghost someone because “you need boundaries”—it might just be your own voice with better branding.

Anne Lamott put it best: “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” If the “God” we’re listening to always reinforces our assumptions, always takes our side, and never disrupts our worldview, we may not be listening to God at all.

Scripture shows us that when God speaks, it often disrupts more than it reassures. Think about Moses: he wasn’t looking for a career change when God lit up that burning bush. Jonah wasn’t looking to take an all-inclusive cruise to Nineveh. Even Peter, at the Transfiguration, had his expectations upended. He thought they were staying on the mountain. God said, “Nope. Get moving.”

A good gut-check for spiritual discernment: Is what I’m hearing challenging me in a way that aligns with Jesus? Because the real Jesus often redirects, convicts, and calls us out of comfort.

Is It Calling You Toward Love or Fear?

This week, we’ve seen headlines full of fear: wars escalating, political chaos brewing, people exploiting faith for power. The world is loud with voices telling us to withdraw, distrust, hoard, and harden our hearts. But here’s the thing: God’s voice always calls us toward love, trust, generosity, and mercy.

If the thing you think God is telling you makes you more afraid, more self-protective, or more closed off, it’s worth re-examining. The entire arc of scripture moves toward love casting out fear. Jesus didn’t just say, “Be not afraid”—he embodied it, walking toward the cross, not away from it. If God is speaking, it’s pulling us toward faith, not anxiety.

God’s Voice Leads to Action, Not Just Overthinking

Most of us—especially the caffeine-powered, podcast-listening, endlessly-Googling types—are really good at overthinking. We get an inkling that God might be nudging us to do something, and instead of doing it, we spend six months journaling about it, researching it, asking our friends what they think about it, making a Pinterest board for it, and taking an online quiz to confirm it.

But scripture is full of people who had zero clarity but still acted—Abraham left home without a destination, the disciples followed Jesus before fully understanding him, and even at the Transfiguration, God didn’t say, “Think deeply about this.” He said, “Listen to him.”

If what you’re hearing is calling you to love, serve, or step into something faithful—and you’re waiting for absolute certainty—you might be waiting for a level of clarity God rarely gives. Sometimes faith means stepping forward before the glow of the mountaintop comes back.

The Algorithm Is Not Your Shepherd

The serious truth is that we are drowning in voices. By the time you finish reading this sentence, you’ve already been targeted by at least three different marketing campaigns, all designed to convince you that you’re missing out on something essential. Studies estimate that we see anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 ads a day—and that’s before you even get to the chaos of cable news, your cousin’s Facebook rants, and whatever the X (née Twitter) fight of the day is.

And then there’s “The Algorithm.”

We talk about it like it’s some all-seeing force—and in a way, it is. Every time you scroll, every time you pause, every time you click, The Algorithm is taking notes. It learns what makes you mad, what makes you laugh, and what keeps you glued to the screen. It doesn’t care if something is true, helpful, or good for your soul—it cares if you stay engaged. Which means it feeds you more of whatever makes you react. More outrage. More tribalism. More stuff to buy, stuff to fear, and stuff to argue about.

So when we ask, “How do I know if this is God’s voice?” we also have to ask, “Who else is shaping my perspective?” Because if we spend more time listening to TikTok influencers than the actual teachings of Jesus, it’s no mystery why we struggle to hear him.

None of this is new. Paul warned about “itching ears” that only listen to what they want to hear (2 Tim 4:3). Jesus told us to watch out for false shepherds who don’t actually care about the flock (John 10:12). And today, those shepherds just have better branding and targeted ad campaigns.

So what do we do?

We start by recognizing that not every loud voice is worth listening to. We learn to ask better questions: Is this shaping me toward love or toward fear? Toward compassion or toward self-righteousness? Because if the voices we let in are constantly making us angrier, more suspicious, more anxious, or more desperate to prove a point, it might be time to unfollow.

The Algorithm wants engagement. God wants transformation. And only one of those actually leads to life.

So What Now?

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. The season of Lent is all about cutting out the noise and tuning into what’s real. Maybe instead of just giving up chocolate or doomscrolling, this is a season to practice listening. To test what you think you’re hearing.

If you feel like God is saying something to you, check it:

• Does it sound like love, not fear?
• Does it call you out of self-interest and into something bigger?
• Does it require faith and action, not just more overthinking?

If it does, maybe—just maybe—it’s time to listen.