When We Drift from What God Said | Ep. 138

Spiritual drift rarely happens all at once. More often, it begins when we trust other voices more than what God has already made clear. In this episode, we walk through the story of 1 Kings 13 and explore how confusion, influence, and misplaced trust can pull us off course. You'll learn a simple framework for testing guidance, staying anchored in Scripture, and recognizing the early signs of drift. If you've ever struggled to know which voice to follow, this conversation will help you move forward with greater discernment and clarity.

👉 Listen to a related episode: How to Study the Book of James: Faith That Moves | Ep. 105

Transcript

Welcome And Quick Resources

0:00

This is episode 138, and I'm your host, Latoya, and this is Equip the Next, where you get equipped to lead, disciple, and move the mission forward. So, what happens when we drift? You don't want to miss this. Yeah. I figured I would save this for last. If you are new, thank you so much for coming. Listen, if you want to know more about the simple truth of the gospel, just a foundational episode on the Christian faith and what the gospel is, feel free to check out episode 96 to just get more clarity on that. If you are returning and these podcasts have been a blessing to you, it would really do me so much great joy if you would just share it, um, follow, subscribe, depending on where you're listening. It really does help the ministry. Um, it really does reach more people and just help us to be able to be effective in the mission that we are doing, which is to teach people how to grow in confidence and to grow in studying God's word with boldness and to not be afraid to open up the Bible. Also, with that being said, don't forget to download those free Bible study guardrails. They're just a one-pager, but they really do help you to understand how to study scripture a little bit better. I would say it takes the edge off. You know what I'm saying? It takes the edge off. I wish they there was something like that for me when I was studying the Bible. Okay. So I am basically putting in everything that I've learned as well as what some things I've learned from seminary, and I'm putting it into one sheet for you just to say thank you for listening.

Why We Drift From God

2:28

So today I'm gonna, I don't know. I feel like I'm gonna spend a little bit of time on this topic because this is something that we see a lot, and that is drifting, drifting away. Um, and I want to start by saying that sometimes misplaced trust can lead us away from what God has clearly spoken. Reminds me of what I talked about last week when uh when I when I brought up about church hurt, and a lot of times that's just because somebody may, you know, probably didn't know the word and were led astray, and then we blame other people. And I'm not diminishing the fact that church hurt is real, but um I find that if we can learn the study of the Bible, and if we can teach it, that's my goal, and that's why I say share it. Because if I can teach just one person how to grow in confidence in God's word, be confident to open up the Bible, I think it would save a lot of people from being church hurt, in my opinion. And sometimes we have this tendency of putting our trust in the wrong things, whether it is exposure culture or a human being who is flawed, we are all flawed. And there's nothing wrong with, you know, trusting, of course, but when that trust is misplaced, it can lead us away from God. So ask yourself this question what am I trusting more than what God has said?

The Warning From 1 Kings 13

4:15

There's a friendly, well, not friendly, but there's a reminder in the Bible. Whenever I think about this, and that reminder is, you can find it in 1 Kings chapter 13. I am not gonna read it, I'm going to give you a summary of it. Most of you will know exactly what I'm talking about when I give this summary, and that is the the man of God and the old prophet. And it is, if I'm summarizing it, we have this man of God who was given instruction by the Lord on what to do, and the old prophet that he encountered caused him to derail from that, which cost him his life. And there's a lot of lessons that we can learn from this that I want to bring

The God Directive For Discernment

5:15

up. If you don't know, I love Star Trek, the original series, but there was this thing called the Prime Directive. It's the prime directive. It's that's their mission, that's like the main um the objective, no matter what planet. They're not trying to just you know change anything that's going on in that planet. They're, you know, they're not trying to um change history, you know what I'm saying? Like the prime directive. If you're trekky, you know. Well, I got a little uh creative and I decided to call what I'm about to say the God directive, the God directive. What is the God directive? Number one, the God directive is God has the final say. I don't care if you, you know, if you're a parent and you have, especially if you have teens, I pray for you. I really do. But you have a rule or whatever you say, and that is what it is. And your child will fight you tooth and nail, they'll get upset, whatever, but you have the final say. They can pout all they want. It's a final say. God has the final say. Once we understand that, I mean, we're gonna pout. Don't, I mean, I'm gonna probably pout the next time God tells me, I'm like, I don't want to do that. But the older you get, or the more mature in Christ you get, you you you pout a little bit quicker. You like you pout and you get it over with. It's not a long drawn-out thing. But we understand that God has the final say. Not only that, but the next directive is that the prophet, quote, open air quotes, the prophet or what they say should line up with what God has confirmed to you, which also point to Jesus. But a lot of times people have been given the Lord will tell them one thing, and then a prophet will come and tell them something completely different, or I'm saying open air quote quotes prophet, but somebody will come and tell them something completely different. It doesn't even have to be a prophet, just somebody, and they'll go and follow that directive, even though God has the final say. So you have to understand that it should confirm with what God has told you. And if you're not sure, or if the Lord has not told you something and somebody tells you something, it's okay to wait. It's okay to wait and give it to God. And I don't care how good it sounds, give it to God and leave your emotion at the door. Because a lot of times people will play into our emotions and we'll be like, oh yeah, this is what we're supposed to do. And we put money and stuff in, and then we yeah. No, you give it to God, but you give it to God knowing that He might say no, and you're okay with that. It should point to Jesus, you know. Um say the Lord wants you to I don't know, apply for a job and you have peace in your spirit, you know you got the job, and the Lord's telling you to wait, the job is yours, and it's pointing you to a place where you can provide for your family, right? Wait on him. So if somebody comes along and be like, Yeah, you should go into business, yeah. But God already confirmed what you're supposed to do. This is an example. The next God directive is to trust in the Lord's leading. Trust in him. So going back to that job example, trust in the Lord's leading. How is it resonating in your spirit? Trust that. Because people who are on the outside of you, they don't know what's going on in your home. They don't know what's going on in your mind, they don't know what's going on with God and what God has planned for you. Only He knows that. And so that's why it's important that we understand and take um full clearance and understand and and and and sit in, I should say, the God directive. That God has the final say that if somebody tells you something, it should line up with what God has confirmed to you. And if he hasn't told you anything yet, it's okay for you to wait and give it to God, leaving your emotions at the door. And it's okay to um even tell God how you feel. There's nothing wrong with that. He's your father. And the next um God directive is to trust in the Lord's leading. It's a very sad outcome in First Kings and 13. This boy wasn't even mentioned. His name wasn't even I shouldn't say boy. This young man was not even his name wasn't even mentioned. Um, let me go here. First Kings 13. Yeah. Just a man of God came out of Judah. Um, and it's very sad because he was on an assignment and God gave him clear instructions. It's very clear when he speaks to you. And if you don't understand something, you can always ask him, Lord, can you give me some clarity? Because I'm kind of confused. It's okay. But when we look at the Christ thread, it's all it's all about obedience, trust, and truth.

Titles Influence And Returning To Scripture

11:26

That's what it is about. See, this young man of God had a clear word from God. But another voice, an old prophet, persuaded him away from what God had said. How many times have we, you could just kind of um assess your own life. Just do an assessment of your own life and see how many times has has that happened to you. And sometimes even influence can sound spiritual and still pull us off course. We were talking about the exposure culture and maybe somebody who has a title. Titles can sometimes be very deceptive. There's nothing wrong with honoring people with titles, but sometimes the title carries weight, and some people even use title to carry that weight, and we feel like, oh, this person has this title, so they must be hearing from God, they must be God's BFF. Listen, they might hear from God, but do they hear from God for you? That's the question. Or do you hear God for yourself? It's okay if someone confirms what the Lord has said, but what is God telling you in this season? Because your trust determines that direction. We have all fallen victim to like listening to somebody and think, like, oh yeah, that's it. And then we'll be like, Man, I should have never listened to them because God told me this. It's okay, He loves you. Maybe you made a mistake, maybe you're dealing with that mistake even now. Repent, and if you did, ask the Lord to give you instruction moving forward. Ask him to guide you. Doesn't mean that you're not gonna be held accountable if you did something that may have cost you, like if you're a business and say you put some money in something and you lost some money because of a decision you made that God told you not to do, whatever. I don't know the situation, but doesn't mean that it doesn't come with consequences, but you don't have to sit and stay in that forever. Ask the Lord, trust Him to lead you. Don't hesitate to open up your word, don't hesitate to pray, don't hesitate to fellowship with someone who can encourage you and and maybe give you some well, if they have a word of wisdom, if not, give you some direction. Just listen. Sometimes people just need somebody to listen so they can vent. But never allow outside voices to distract you and deter you from what God has said to you. Don't even allow yourself to do it with fear, doubt, unbelief.

The Weekly Challenge And Closing

14:34

So this challenge is very simple. Before seeking another voice this week, I'm asking you to return to what God has already said in Scripture. And what he has already said to you, and does it line up with Scripture? What has he told you in this season? That's what I want you to rest on. That's what I want you to hold on to is trusting in him. Stay blessed. Well, that's it for today. Thanks for listening to the Equit the Next podcast. If this episode blessed you, I'd appreciate it if you leave a review and share it with someone who can use a little encouragement. Now grow in God's word and lead boldly.