Listening for What You Can’t Hear

We spend a lifetime learning how to make things happen. Learning when to let go takes a different kind of faith.

#MindsetMonday • 10:31 a.m. Oct. 19, 2026

I've spent the better part of my life making things happen. Building businesses, solving problems, making decisions, taking risks, and pushing forward when quitting would've been easier. I’ve become pretty comfortable trusting my own instincts. Maybe a little too comfortable.

When you've spent years being the guy expected to have the answers, it's easy to forget you don't have all of them. It's even easier to confuse your ability to make things happen with the wisdom to know whether they should happen in the first place. That's a humbling realization for a guy like me.

The longer I walk with Christ, the more I understand that just because I can make something happen doesn't mean God is calling me to make it happen. Sometimes faith isn't about charging forward. It's about having the discipline to stop, get quiet, and surrender control.

Remember, in 1 Kings 19, Elijah was exhausted, discouraged, and running for his life. A powerful wind came, followed by an earthquake and fire. But God wasn't in those things. Then came a gentle whisper. All that noise and commotion, yet God revealed His presence in a whisper.

I wonder how many times I've prayed for guidance when what I really wanted was confirmation. How many times have I asked God to bless a decision I'd already made? How many times have I called something faith when it was just my ambition dressed up in Sunday clothes?

Ouch. That last one stings!

Here's what I'm learning. Following Jesus doesn't mean bringing Him a set of blueprints and asking Him to sign off on the construction. It means trusting Him enough to put down the pencil, open His Word, and allow Him to reshape the plan. Or, if necessary, throw the whole thing away. For somebody who's spent his life building things, that's just plain ol' hard!

You guys know I champion hard work, ambition, and taking initiative. But there's a slippery slope where those things become more important than obedience. Proverbs 3:5-6, my favorite passage, reminds us to trust in the Lord rather than lean on our own understanding. It doesn't promise God will endorse our plans. It calls us to trust His wisdom above our own.

That requires discernment. Not every thought or feeling is God speaking. That's why Scripture, prayer, wise counsel, and humility matter. We must be willing to test what we think we're hearing against what God has already revealed in His Word.

Here's my challenge this week, and I'm really just preaching to myself. Are you truly listening for God's direction, or are you just listening for His approval? What are you holding so tightly that you haven't been willing to surrender it? Maybe the answer isn't to push harder or ramp up the "want to." Maybe it's time to get quiet, seek Him, and have the courage to follow where He leads.

I'm still learning this lesson. But one thing is becoming clear. The goal isn't to get God to follow my plans. The goal is to faithfully follow Him, even when His direction looks nothing like the future I imagined.

So this week, let's be still enough to listen, humble enough to surrender, and courageous enough to obey.