is it god?

At church on Sunday, I met a girl who was visiting Nashville to see if this is where God wants her to move.

“What brought you here?” she asked me.

“Honestly,” I said, “it was God.”

“Really?” she said. “Like, you just asked Him about it?”

I laughed. Because truthfully, yes. That’s it. That’s all it was. But I didn’t really know it at the time. I knew I was asking Him about it, but I wasn’t totally sure He was answering.

What I know now is that it was God. But what I knew then was that I had this weird tug toward Nashville—a city I had never been to—and an internship opportunity there.

A girl in my small group recently asked how we know it’s God speaking to us. We’ve been talking a lot about hearing from God, and while others were sharing what they’d heard, she wanted to know more about how that happens—how you know it’s Him.

A few of us chimed in. God never says anything that contradicts what the Bible says. There is a grace, a peace, a hope attached. He’ll confirm what He says.

But then, where we landed was that sometimes you just have to take steps toward what you think He said, and see what happens next.

Because so often, we don’t really know. Faith is the evidence of things not yet seen. But faith is not blind. We may not be able to see how the physical circumstances will play out, but we can keep our eyes locked on Jesus—the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

And I think that’s just the point.

Is this thing God?

I don’t know. Sometimes we can’t know. But what are you looking at as you try to find out?

If it’s not Jesus, it doesn’t matter what it is, you’ll sink.

And if you keep your eyes on Jesus, it doesn’t matter what happens around you, you’ll get where He wants to take you.

When I moved to Nashville 13 years ago, it’s not that I heard God’s voice telling me to move here. It’s not that everything has gone swimmingly since I’ve been here. It’s not that I knew it was God.

It’s only as I’ve taken steps and kept my eyes on Him that I can look back and see much more clearly how He guided, protected, and transformed me—and how it has changed the people around me, how it draws them closer to Jesus too.

That was God.

As I listened to this girl in the church lobby weigh the pros and cons of living in Nashville, the only thing I could think was, “Whatever you do, listen to where God says to go.”

It doesn’t matter what it looks like or which city it is, lean into God, into what you think He’s saying. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Set your mind on things above. Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. All the rest will be provided.

You might not be able to see it yet, but you will. Because that’s who He is. That’s God.