What Happens When You Ignore God’s Voice?

Isaiah 30:21, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it'"

Have the words, "JUST GET UP" ever gone through your mind?

Maybe those exact words weren't necessarily God's voice, but you’ve felt something like it before. You're standing in a crowded room when suddenly your senses sharpen, becoming aware of the rising decibels of overlapping voices competing to be heard above the background cacophony of TVs and music. You begin to feel as if the room is closing in. You hope no one notices your agitation and anxiety. You try to ignore it, but the pull to JUST GET UP is so strong that you have to excuse yourself.

You have to leave.

That kind of physical reaction to overstimulation is real. But what I want to talk about is a different kind of pull. One just as strong, but far more important.

Have you ever felt like God was telling you to do something, and you didn’t?

Maybe you've been invited to a party or gathering, and once you arrive, you realize the crowd and atmosphere are different than you had expected. With them, they've brought a new vibe that makes you feel uneasy, and you're unsure how to navigate removing yourself?  

So you stay.

You join in conversations that would not make God proud, and later you reflect over the evening, wishing you hadn’t gone at all. 

You should’ve just gotten up.

Or maybe you remember back to your adolescent years, sitting in the pew at youth group or church, when a pastor’s stirring message made you want to jump up and answer the call to the altar. You agreed in your heart that you wanted to make Jesus Lord of your life.  You were prompted in your innermost being to JUST GET UP. Your palms were sweaty, your heart racing, but you kept your eyes fixed straight ahead afraid that if you moved, everyone would notice.

Did you go?

Did you “JUST GET UP?”

 Or did you convince yourself it would be fine to ask the Lord into your heart later, when you got home, in private… quietly pushing aside that strong pull from the Holy Spirit, and missing out on a special moment meant just for you?

So, when I ask, “Did you just get up?” please know I’m not asking from a place of judgment. I’m asking as someone who knows what it feels like to stay still…to ignore that pull.

I understand that moment more than I wish I did. I know the deep regret of not following God’s prompting. It was a moment in time when I heard the clear command of the Holy Spirit to “JUST GET UP”, but I felt paralyzed and too fearful to move. 

When I was 16, I was lying on a procedure table, and I heard it—clear and unmistakable—

JUST GET UP!

Not once.

Not twice.

But three times.

I was scared. 
Fear overtook me.
I didn’t move. 
I stayed.
 

 And the abortion procedure went on.

I’ve thought about that moment more times than I can count throughout the years, with the deepest regret. 

I had believed the lies that Satan whispered to me:

“My life would just go back to normal after the abortion.” 
"No one will ever have to know.” 
“It isn’t even really a baby at this point anyway.”  

(To further read of God’s redemptive power and healing in my life, go to: https://www.thedentedfender.com/post/living-on-a-hidden-beach)

But thankfully, God who sees me, who knows me intimately, and loves me in such a way that nothing can separate me from Him, rescued me from years of shame, guilt, and condemnation over that decision. 

Romans 8:38-39, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

He has brought me to a place where I can be brave and vulnerable. A place where I can share my testimony in the battle against evil. 

Revelation 12:11 states, “And they have conquered him (the accuser-Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,...”

That truth of conquering the accuser, and of what Christ has done for me on the cross is why I write about such personal experiences.
I want everyone to know the freedom and joy of truly being forgiven.

Maybe you have said, “I know I am forgiven by God, but I will never forgive myself.”

That was me for over 40 years. 

But not anymore.

I finally realized something:

it was never my job to forgive myself.

Jesus already did it on the cross!

Once that sunk in—really sunk in—I was free!

1 John 1:9 tells us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Yes, Jesus' act on the cross, for me and for you, is the answer to the mistakes and regrets that we have fallen into and experienced. And just as importantly, I want to share that I never would have reached this point of healing and confidence in my relationship with God if I had not spent time searching His Word and seeking His will for my life. 

Through quiet study, prayer, and stillness, He made me aware of the steps I needed to take—steps that led me back to that traumatic memory, through healing, and finally forward from the guilt and shame that I carried when I did not “just get up.”

If you have had a similar experience of regret that has been gnawing at you, know this: 

God loves you.

He is not surprised by you.
And He is not mad at you. 

He looks on you with compassion and love.

He is waiting for you to come to Him with complete honesty, no matter how painful it may be.

Maybe it wasn’t a youth group altar call for you or a past abortion. Maybe it was a quiet nudge to apologize…to walk away…to speak up…or to reach out.

Maybe it was something no one else could see, a moment between you and God where you felt the gentle pull and wrestled with whether you would respond.

A simple prayer of “God, I ask your forgiveness for ________, and I am unsure how to go about healing from it. Would you please show me?”

That’s it! He promises to hear our prayers, to hear YOUR prayer.

Psalm 145:18-19 “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth….He also hears their cry and saves them”

Then, spend time with Him. 

·      Set your alarm clock just 15 minutes earlier in the morning to make space for prayer and Bible reading.

·      Take a walk in nature and talk to Him as you would a friend (nature is where I feel closest to Him).

·      While driving to work, instead of turning on the sports channel or talk radio, sit in the quiet and ask Him to speak.

And maybe today…this is your moment.

Not a moment to look back with regret, but a moment to respond to God’s voice.

If you feel that pull, that quiet or unmistakable voice, don’t ignore it.

JUST GET UP.