The Faith Zone: Why Hearing God Requires Risk, Not Control
The Faith Zone: Why Hearing God Requires Risk, Not Control
I'll never forget the morning I woke up with a crystal-clear impression that Gregory and I needed to sell our house immediately. Not in six months. Not when the market improved. Now.
To the natural mind, it made no sense. We loved our home. The market wasn't ideal. We had no clear plan for what came next. But something deep in my spirit knew this was God's voice, even though it sounded exactly like my own thoughts.
That space between hearing and knowing for certain—that's what I call the faith zone. And if you're going to walk with God, you'd better get comfortable living there.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Faith
Here's what I've learned after decades of following Jesus: if you want control, if you want certainty, then Christianity is not for you. There is no such thing as control and certainty in a world that's built on faith and trust and belief.
I know that's not what we want to hear. We live in a culture that promises us control over our circumstances, our relationships, our future. We want guarantees. We want to know exactly how things will turn out before we take the first step.
But God's Kingdom operates on an entirely different system. His Kingdom runs on faith, not sight. On trust, not control. On partnership, not manipulation.
Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness. But think about this—it took faith to believe God was speaking in the first place. Then it took even greater faith for Abraham to act on it.
Between the time God spoke and the time Isaac was finally born? Twenty-five years. Twenty-five years of living in the faith zone, contending for a promise that seemed impossible.
What You Get in Exchange
Here's the beautiful thing: when you give up control and certainty, you get something way better—confidence and communion. You don't just find that things work out (though all things do work together for good). You find Him. The person of Jesus. You find Holy Spirit and the Father.
You find union with Him. You get to partner with Him in shaping the world and bringing God's Kingdom around you.
But here's the thing—there's no guarantee that it's Him until it's confirmed. And there's no guarantee that even if it's confirmed, it's going to turn out the way you expected. Faith is spelled R-I-S-K. It's risky business, this Kingdom life.
Living in the Unknown
The faith zone is that uncomfortable space between when God speaks and when it's confirmed that it's actually Him. It's where the enemy comes and tries to steal that word away from you. "Did God really say...?" Sound familiar?
This is the hard part of following Christ that nobody talks about in the "your best life now" sermons. But it's also where the real adventure happens. It's where you discover that you don't just find God working things out on your behalf—you find God Himself.
The journey itself is what's important to Him. He wants you to be excited and expectant, not anxious or worried about whether you're hearing correctly.
The Invitation
If you've been frustrated because you feel like you don't hear God like others do, maybe it's because you've been expecting the sound of many waters when He's been whispering sweet words of love and guidance all along.
Your faith doesn't need to be in your ability to hear perfectly. Your faith needs to be in His ability to communicate clearly. He is well able to get His message across to those who are listening with their hearts.
Be still and know that He is God. Stop striving. Just relax. He has you, and He loves this process with you. Enjoy the journey.
I actually created a whole course about learning to recognize and honor God's voice called "Honoring God's Voice" if you want to dive deeper into these concepts. But honestly, the most important thing is just starting to pay attention and asking, "Is that You, Lord?" when thoughts pop into your mind that weren't on your usual mental track.
Blessings,
Susan Dewbrew