CAI SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Ginger McBride

Open Door: Christian Counseling and Life Coaching  

An NCCA Certified Academic Institution

Open Door: Christian Counseling and Life Coaching is certified by the National Christian Counseling Association (NCCA).

Dr. McBride has been affiliated with the NCCA since 2016.   She is a Licensed Clinical Pastoral Counselor—Advanced Certification.

Hearing God’s Voice

God has made plans for each one of us. His plans for us are as individual as our appearance. We don’t all look alike; God’s plans for us are just as unique. In fact, before He formed us, He made special plans for us, and He wrote them down. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:16 NLT.  There is hardly one day of counseling that goes by without me sharing this verse. It is powerful.

Because God created us and wrote our life story in His book, He knows us and understands us. He will speak to us differently as we develop a relationship with Him. Don’t worry about how he communicates with someone else. How does He communicate with us as individuals? In Isaiah, God gives an example of how different grain is planted, harvested, and prepared for food. (Isaiah 28:24-29) The farmer knows some seeds need to be covered with soil; some seeds need to be scattered on top of the ground. Our Creator knows how to personally communicate with us if we want to hear Him. 

Wouldn’t it be great if God told us the plans He has for us? Wouldn’t it save a lot of time and trouble if we just knew those plans and could go about implementing them? Well, for a Choleric, it would be great to have a checklist, but God is not only task-oriented; He is also relationship-oriented. In fact, He will give up the Choleric task for the Sanguine relationship. Remember when Jesus sat with Mary and chastised Martha for asking that her sister help with the chore of putting food on the table? (Luke 10:41-42)

In the case of Abraham, God told him he would have a son. (Genesis 15:4; 18:10) God spent 25 years making Abraham a father who would love and trust Him more than anything.  (Genesis 12:4; 21:2) God desired that relationship with Abraham. Abraham was called a friend of God. (James 2:23) When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, God knew He could trust Abraham to walk three days into the wilderness with his son, the wood, and the fire. (Genesis 22:2) Then, at the time of the sacrifice, God provided a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. (Genesis 22:13) God knew Abraham could be trusted because He knows the end from the beginning. (Isaiah 46:10) Abraham’s trust in God developed as their relationship did. Through the story of Abraham, God wants us to know we can trust Him when He asks us to do what seems unimaginable. Our trust in God is deepened through our personal relationship with Him.

Knowing God’s Voice

In order to know the extraordinary plans God has for each of us, we have to be able to recognize His voice. We have to discern the voice of God and distinguish it from the voices of ourselves, the world, and the enemy. Jesus says, My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27 NLT. We recognize God’s voice when we hear it enough. I know my mother’s voice because I have heard it enough. I know it when she scolds me and when she praises me. Even though she no longer lives on earth, at times, I can still hear her voice of correction and assurance in my mind. So, it is with God’s voice. We must hear it enough to distinguish it from any other voice. If we want a word from the Lord, we must open the Bible. It is full of God’s words of truth. Any word from God will align with the Bible, but we have to read it to know what it says. Here’s the really cool part in Jesus’ own words: But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to remembrance all that I said to you. John 14:26 NASB. When we read the Bible and when we memorize scripture, what does the Holy Spirit do? He brings all things to our remembrance. We recognize His voice because we have heard it enough, and the Holy Spirit brings it to our remembrance.

Listening for God’s Voice

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 NASB. God wants to be found. God wants to make His plans for us known to us. He wants us to search for Him. In the searching, we develop this awesome relationship with Him. Ask God to reveal His calling. We can ask Him to reveal the plans He has for us. When God called Jeremiah, he was young. Jeremiah was listening when God spoke, I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5 NASB. Jeremiah argued that he was too young. God wanted Jeremiah to know his age was not the determining factor of his calling. Don’t say , ‘I’m too young, for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you...   ...Look I have put words in your mouth! Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down...   ...Others you must build up and plant.’ ” Jeremiah 1:7,9-10. NASB. Our calling may not be as clear as Jeremiah’s was, but we still must listen to hear God’s voice. 

Obeying God’s Voice

Obedience is bringing our will into alignment with God’s will. When God lays a burden on our hearts, we must obey, but also understand the timing. Moses had a problem with timing. Even though Moses lived in the palace of Pharaoh until he was 40 years old, I sense God had put a desire in his heart to free his people from slavery. (Acts 7:25) He stepped ahead of God’s plans for him and killed a man. (Exodus 2:11-12) When this murder was discovered, Moses had to flee Egypt to the land of Midian. In Midian, he became a shepherd and a family man. (Exodus 2:21-22) He was living his best life until his curiosity got the best of him. He encountered a bush in the desert that did not burn up. At the burning bush, God called him to free his people from the slavery of the Egyptians. (Exodus 3:2-8) Moses had to wait for the right timing. 

On the other hand, in the story of Mary and Joseph, it was necessary for Joseph to respond immediately. God knew He could trust Joseph because Joseph had developed a strong relationship with God. When God told Joseph to get up and take Mary and baby Jesus to Egypt, Joseph didn’t wait until morning. He got up immediately, in the middle of the night, and left Bethlehem. No questions; no excuses. (Matthew 2:13-14)

The first act of obedience for us must be salvation. The Holy Spirit urges, and God waits for us to come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Acts 5:12 NLT. That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:9-10. NASB.  ...“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 NLT. Salvation is the beginning of this wonderful walk-in obedience to God.

Seasons of Callings

There are seasons of callings. Moses spent 40 years in Pharaoh’s court. He knew the proceedings and rules of order. Then before he spoke to Pharaoh on behalf of the Israelites, he  spent 40 years as a shepherd in the deserts of Midian. (Exodus 7:7) For every season, God prepared Moses for the next season. The next 40 years would be spent leading the Israelites in the wilderness before crossing into the promised land. (Exodus 16:35)

Moses himself, was not allowed to cross over into the promised land because of an act of disobedience. The Israelites were thirsty and demanded water. Moses and his brother Aaron asked God for water. God wanted them to speak to the rock for water. Instead, Moses struck the rock, twice, out of anger. God told them that they would not enter the promised land because they disobeyed. (Numbers 20:6-12) At 120 years of age, Moses saw the promised land from the mountain where he died. (Deuteronomy 34:1-7) Moses’ story teaches us that we should obey God’s calling, that there are consequences to disobedience, and that we should be aware of the timing for God’s calling.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us there is a time for everything. (Ecc. 3:1-8) In my own life, there was a time of growing up in a God-loving family and receiving education. Then there was a time of working in a medical research laboratory. There was a time for marriage to a wonderful man, and a time to be a stay-at-home mom raising four amazing children. There was a time for international missions, and a time for jail ministry. During a jail ministry visit, a chaplain suggested National Christian Counselors Association and The Sarasota Academy of Christian Counseling. My first course was, Created in God’s Image by Drs. Richard and Phyllis Arno. After taking that class, I knew the next season of my life involved Christian counseling. God has used every season of my life to prepare me for the next season.  As for this season, I continue to receive a blessing every time I share the APS, watching the “lights come on” and seeing smiles on the faces of counselees.  Counselees are set free of the expectations of themselves and others. They can live life according to God’s plan. They can study God’s word while they learn to hear God’s voice. They can discover the amazing calling God has for their lives. As for me, it is an awe-inspiring journey as I help others hear God’s voice and answer His calling.

Reasons For Hearing

Why do we need to hear God’s voice? We have work to do. God’s main concerns are for those who are perishing. It is His will that no one perish. The Lord does not delay His promise as some understand delay. But is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 CSB. God allows us to be a part of sharing His love with friends, family, and even complete strangers. He wants us to be a part of rescuing those who are perishing. We must know God’s voice, listen for God’s voice, and obey with the right timing by developing and maintaining our relationship with God. We must give those who are perishing every opportunity to make that personal decision to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and to begin their awesome journey with Him. To God be the glory!