WOFOYO SHORT: How To Discern God’s Voice In Isolation And Community

The wilderness can feel like God went silent, but what if the silence is actually guidance? We open Matthew 4 and stare straight at a line people skip too fast: Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Not pushed. Not abandoned. Led. That changes how we frame isolation, temptation, and the slow work of spiritual formation. We talk about why God can lead you into a wilderness season and why He can also call you out, and how the real skill is learning to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit and obey it.

From there, we get painfully practical about church life, leadership pressure, and the moment you have to decide who you’re really following. Some believers become “company men” for a system, a denomination, or a culture that rewards compliance. But God’s leading can produce conflict at times, especially when control is dressed up as wisdom. We wrestle with the question many of us face sooner or later: am I going to obey God or obey men, and do I know the Lord well enough to be sure it’s Him?

We also bring it home to personality, community, and family discipleship. If you love being alone with God, when does solitude become comfort instead of growth? If you rely on groups, when does community replace dependence on Christ? We share a humbling story about kids, Sunday school, structure, and swallowing pride, plus simple self-examination questions to help you notice what environments help you thrive and what triggers put you at risk.

https://wofoyo.org/               #wofoyo

Transcript

Practical Questions For Your Walk

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hey everybody, this is C Dub with another Woe Foyo short. I want to talk to you about some very, very practical things here in this short, and wanted to ask you some questions. These are questions I ask myself periodically, questions I've asked myself in my walk with Christ in the different forms that that has taken. And since it's get in the word for yourself, we're going to get in the word for ourselves. Matthew chapter 4, and it reads this way in every gospel account where this happens, it says that the Spirit, right after he has been baptized by John the Baptist and has the testimony of the Father, it says the Spirit led him to the wilderness. And what I want to talk to you about as we talk about the wilderness a lot on this program, I wanted to let people know that are listening that the Lord will lead you into the wilderness and he will lead you out. The the key thing in all in your walk is knowing the voice of the Holy Spirit as He leads you and as He guides you, as He shows you things in the Word, and being obedient. Now, over Matthew 4, it says Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, said to be tempted of the devil. And he goes on a fast for 40 days, 40 nights. He undergoes the temptations. He returns in the spirit and in power, proclaiming the kingdom of God. Now, there are some folks out there that will naysay this wilderness experience, and that's that was Old Testament, or they'll talk about Elijah and they don't reference Jesus. And well, you have this support, do you have this community of support? Okay, but and then when the Lord calls you into a congregation or into a group of believers, make sure it's the Lord calling you. I've relayed the story recently in one of our full episodes about how I joined the church because I like the pastor's son. And I got frustrated eventually after about being in there a year and a half. And I'm praying, I'm like, Lord, why'd you lead me here? Why'd you tell me to go here? So I didn't, you just decided to go. But you're gonna leave the right way. You're gonna leave in a way that honors me. Like, well, Lord, when's that? You know, crickets. I'm not telling you, you'll mess it up. Uh, you'll try and make it happen rather than trusting me. When we're hearing the voice of God, there are people that will say, You have your support system. We're not called wolves, pick off loan sheep, and all that. And just ask yourself this: are they a company man or are they not a company man? Are they one that's following the voice of the Lord? Even if it said to give up the congregation or to give up maybe their association. Basically, whether there's a denomination there or whether it's non-denominational that some organization, when they say jump, a lot of times these folks are gonna say how high. They're company men, they're company women. And the leading of the Lord at times will produce conflict. And I know this is going to go against what some of you all have been taught. The leading of the Lord will produce conflict at times. Shouldn't be doing it all the time, but at times with those that are in charge. And there's a big question that you're gonna have to answer when those moments come for you, if they come for you, but in some way, some form or fashion, in your walk, in your life, uh, you will probably have to answer the question Am I going to obey God or am I going to obey men? Uh, am I in a relationship enough with the Lord that I know it's Him? Or am I going, uh Am I unsure and therefore I'm going to trust those in leadership? This is not telling you to do one thing or another. I will tell you to follow the Lord, but these are questions you have to ask, you have to answer. Now, I was in the wilderness for about 15 years. Bowden's was about five years shorter than that. I I was not pleased about getting called out of it because I got comfortable in it. But the key thing is, just like you're called in it, make sure that when he calls you out of it, you say yes, Lord, it will reap benefits. Me and the Lord were good, didn't like dealing with people, even though I deal with people on the regular at my job, even though I deal with people on the regular in other facets. If you give me my option, I'm gonna go out in the woods, I'm gonna go out on a lake, I'm gonna go out and be alone with the Lord. That is my disposition. I'm gonna go out and garden in silence. And even though I love my neighbors, I'm gonna hope that my neighbors don't yell across the fence, hey Chris, how are you doing? Because that's my quiet time, that's my decompress, that is my time alone with the Lord. And when you get called back, ask yourself some things here. The thing is, when the Lord calls you in, he calls you in for a reason. There's a lesson to learn. Here's where self-examination and using the word to judge you pays off. Ask yourself certain questions. Do I do better with people one-on-one? Or do I have to have a larger group to fit in? Do I not like people? I get along with people, I love people, but I need my alone time with the Lord. You might be a very social person. You might need have a circle of friends that you need to interact with. And the Lord will call you out of out of that at times to make sure that he is first and foremost in that relationship, but it usually won't be for long. A lot of times we have this idea, especially we this is one I had. I'll just go in the wilderness, Lord's me and you, and all that. But but the bottom line was there were still people that he was shaping me up during that time. He was doing some formative things. He was, you know, getting a bunch of the junk out of me so that I could be more influential for his kingdom with others. And I had to realize that and get beyond my comfort level in that regard. But ask yourself, do I do I have to have a group of people around me? Can I handle being alone? Because you need to be able to do both. And then ask yourself, what environments do I function better in? Do I function better in bigger environments, more people, or do I function better in small groups? There's no right or wrong answer in that. This is not necessarily something that the Lord is going to change or ask you to change. These are questions to ask yourself. I remember in my pride and ego, when the Lord had called us out of church. Well, I was doing something dumb. My great aunt, the one who gave me the Bible that I always talk about, still use the NASB, she said, Why don't you have your kids in church? So, well, well, I can teach them. She said, Chris, they need some structure. You know what? Here's the bottom line. I didn't like that. I thought, you know, with the amount of learning that I was doing in the Word, a little pride and ego there, I thought I was good enough to teach them. Here's the issue. Being able to relate. Yes, I knew enough to teach them, but being in an environment where they were around other kids, even though it was beginner, beginner, beginner stuff, that structure actually, I swallowed my pride, prayed about it, and the Lord's like, she's right, and put my kids in Sunday school. Now, there's a lot of criticisms could be had about Sunday school, but my kids at that time needed the structure. It benefited them. And then there was a time where they started to grow a little bit restless. So then we had to change some things. So again, there's no wrong or right answer. There is what the Lord's telling you, what the Lord's showing you, and what's going to benefit your participation in the kingdom the most. And when he calls you into something, just simply ask him, Lord, and you might not get the answer right away, Lord, what are you trying to show me? What do you want me to do? What is my purpose here? And then go on that info. If you know you're called someplace, if you know you're called to do something, it doesn't matter. You'd be called to a different place to work. If you don't know, you don't get an answer, but you know you're called, start paying attention. It might be six months, it might be six years, you'll get your answer. I promise. You will get your answer. But the key thing is to be obedient. There is nothing wrong with being conscious of how do I function best? In what environments do I function best? What are some hindrances for me that will get me in a bad mood, that will put me at risk of sinning, especially out of anger, out of frustration? What are some of those potential snares that could be out there? You know, ask yourself these questions and then just be willing to be obedient. But there's nothing wrong with going, you know, I could use some structure. I could use the benefit for a time of being in a particular organization, part of a Bible study, uh, attending a particular congregation. Maybe the Lord will send you into a congregation for a time to learn a certain lesson because that congregation is really good at a particular gift, at a particular ministry that the Lord wants to expose you to, and then he might call you out again. And people say, Oh, they're church hobin, they're church hobin. Well, just make sure you're leaving in a right spirit when he calls you out and you're being obedient, not just because you got feelings hurt or different things like that. Make sure you're being obedient. And always ask yourself, what is the Lord doing? Ask the Lord what lessons do I need to learn? And do I need the structure or do we need more one-on-one time? Does my family need structure? Does my family need a little bit more family time? When I put my kids in Sunday school, that didn't negate the need to have discussions about the word at the kitchen table or at the dining room table, wherever we're eating, wherever we're hanging out, if we're having a walk to school, it didn't negate the necessity for that. But don't get so out there that you get caught up in your own pride thinking you don't need other believers, because that's not the right thing either. Trust the Lord, be obedient, love your fellow man. Woe FOYO. Everybody, thanks for listening. We hope this challenges you and causes you to grow. You can always check us out at woefoyo.org or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Audible, or even check us out on YouTube. For Bones and Myself, this is C Dub reminding you that if you're going to grow, you got a Woefo Yo. Get in the word for yourself.