A guest blogger shares how God counseled him and his family from the couch of a pastor’s office to the mission field.

Quietly, inaudibly, the Lord whispered. This was the first time that He had spoken to me in such a way, but it would not be the last.

The church plant had failed. The Bible studies had grown stale. And collections agencies were calling us daily. This was the Valley of Decision, and I was about to face a serious test that would define the course of our family forever.

I was very familiar with what laboring in vain felt like, and I knew that wasn’t the way of the Kingdom. But if I could hear from God the way Abraham, Moses, Gideon, and Paul did…

As I pursued hearing and obeying Him, God actually began to speak to me about going to Bible school. At first, obedience felt safe. I had the “coincidental confirmations” that seemed to be the leading of the Lord. I was familiar and comfortable with this sort of leading, as most of us are. But the thing about these coincidental confirmations is they don’t stand up to testing very well.

At the time, my wife and I had a 3 year-old and a new born. On this particular Monday morning, I had just deposited our family’s last $150 in the bank with no idea where the next $150 was going to come from. The next day I was scheduled to register for a Bible school called FIRE School of Ministry.

As Confusion began to have its way with me, the only verse I could remember was something like, “He who doesn’t provide for his family is worse than an unbeliever,” a paraphrase of 1 Timothy 5:8.

I cried out to God, “I will not go to Bible school without hearing from You. If You will just tell me what to do, I promise You, I will do it.”

And then it happened. In the chaos of Confusion there was a moment of clarity, and I knew I needed to grab my Bible. Quietly, inaudibly, the Lord whispered to me that the answer was in Psalms.

I cut the Bible like a deck of cards and let my eyes fall on the bottom corner of the left page: “Fire goes before him.” – Psalm 97:3a

I felt the rush of victory as Anxiety and Confusion were systematically dismantled by the power of God’s voice leading His desperate son. FIRE School of Ministry was where God wanted me, and FIRE was where I was going.

What was it that happened in that moment? Had the eternal really broken into the natural and shifted the course of our family forever? Yes, absolutely, it had!

And what was so significant about me going to Bible College? It was during my tenure at FIRE School of Ministry that the Lord first began to speak to my wife and I about His heart for the Middle East.

This may have been the first time that the Lord had spoken to me in such a way, but it would not be the last.

Now the path of our family is marked by the road signs of His voice, leading us as we transition our family to life in the Middle East. He has spoken to us with everything from prophetic words, dreams and visions, His voice, and the counsel of Scripture.

As we seek to hear God’s voice, we remain rooted in His word. Scripture tells us that God is not silent (Ps 50:1, 3, 7). He is the good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14). His voice, and His will, is discernible to you and I—to all who would consider themselves sheep of His pasture (John 10: 16, 27).

Check back next week as Neil shares about waiting on the counsel of the Lord.

Neil Broere

While living in Iraq in 2013, Neil and his wife Lindsey (and their 4 children) saw firsthand the wide open door for the Gospel in the Middle East. They are preparing to move back to Iraq to minister to Syrian refugees. Neil and his family are passionate to see the church in the Middle East restored, rebuilt, and replanted (Ezekiel 36). www.ironkiteinternational.com