
Every man I know who claims to be a Jesus follower also claims he wishes he could discern the voice of God more accurately.
What if I told you the problem wasn’t that you can’t hear from God … but the barrier is in a simple understanding of the location of where God speaks to His people?
God has placed power in His Word, the Holy Scriptures. That’s one of two ways that He has chosen to speak. His Word is infallible and fully trustworthy.
And yet, let’s be honest, you won’t find any verse in Ephesians that tells you whether or not you should buy that truck you’re looking at right now.
You won’t find a verse in 1 Samuel that speaks to whether or not you should take the job offer that is in front of you right now.
God gave you an offensive playbook with two eternal plays to call upon when you need to navigate anyting.
I remember the first time I was hit with the reality that I was off track in my understanding of the role of the soul.
I was in a long conversation with a mentor of mine; a man who plowed deep in the Scriptures and walked deep with God.
Standing by a rail fence in the middle of a field in Florida he helped me see the separation of the biblical concept of “body, soul, spirit” as seen in 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
So I dug deep. Admittedly, I had one small advantage: I had studied both Greek and Hebrew for years.
What was missing was that the American church, looking back over the last 75 years, simply didn’t teach much on it anymore.
Therefore, anytime a Christian encountered concepts of inner thoughts, mindset, positive thinking, listening to what’s happening inside of you … all of that got lumped quickly into the world of spooky New Age post-modernity and therefore was banished into the pile of heresy in most cases.
Think about it … sex was God’s idea … yet pop culture hijacked that and made it into something destructive in most cases. In fact, we just produced an entire episode on sanctified sex from a biblical perspective, and the reason we did was because there must be a course correction from belief systems that become polluted by cultural mores.
So, then, what’s this “soul” thing everyone talks about? And more importantly, what did God design the soul to do?
It’s not exactly something you can see or touch, is it? More like that deep-down hum in the quiet moments, the part of you that feels more than just hungry or tired.
From the Bible’s perspective, your soul is the real you. Think of it like the software running the hardware of your body.
You were created in God’s image, which means you have this has this built-in longing for connection, for something bigger than ourselves. That’s the soul.
That’s why we feel that tug towards beauty, truth, and yes, God himself. The role of the soul, then, is crucial. It’s the vessel for our relationship with God. It’s where the Holy Spirit dwells, convicts us of sin, and whispers truth.
When we accept Jesus, our soul is redeemed, made new. It’s no longer separated from God by sin, but reconciled.
It’s about experiencing a richer, more meaningful life now, guided by God’s Spirit working in our inner being.
It’s a whole-person commitment, but it starts in that hidden place. It’s about aligning our deepest longings with God’s purposes.
So, pay attention to that hum inside. It might just be your eternal soul whispering.