Overcoming Evil: Hearing God's Voice in Darkness

Devotional

Day 1: Overcome Evil with Good

In a world overwhelmed by evil and tragedy, God calls His people to respond differently—not by succumbing to despair or anger, but by actively overcoming evil with good. This means living with kindness, compassion, and encouragement, reflecting the hope and character of God even when darkness seems to prevail. As we unite as the body of Christ and choose to be salt and light, we preserve the truth that God is still sovereign and good, and we can make a real difference in our communities and beyond. [07:40]

Romans 12:21 (ESV)
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Reflection: Who is one person you can intentionally show kindness or encouragement to today, as a way of pushing back against the darkness in the world?

Day 2: The Posture of Our Hearts Determines How We Hear God

The way we position our hearts—whether open and humble or closed and hardened—directly affects our ability to hear God’s voice. Pride, fear, and bitterness can close us off from God’s direction, while humility and openness allow His Word to take root and transform us. Even in pain or confusion, God invites us to trust Him, knowing that He is close to the brokenhearted and desires to heal and guide us if we will let Him speak into our lives. [24:45]

Luke 8:4-15 (ESV)
And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

Reflection: Is there an area of your heart that has become hardened by pride, fear, or bitterness? What would it look like to open that area to God’s voice today?

Day 3: Create Consistent Time to Listen to God

Spiritual growth requires more than a fleeting emotional response; it demands intentional, consistent time set aside to listen to God’s Word and reflect on His voice. Just as we schedule important appointments and activities, we must prioritize time with God, making it the first thing we commit to in our daily lives. When we do, our roots grow deep, enabling us to withstand life’s challenges and remain faithful, rather than withering when difficulties arise. [39:14]

Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Reflection: When and where can you intentionally schedule time this week to be alone with God, making it a non-negotiable part of your day?

Day 4: Eliminate Distractions to Hear God’s Voice

Our lives are often crowded with noise, worries, and endless distractions that can choke out God’s voice before it has a chance to take root. Like weeds in a garden, distractions grow strong through neglect, but spiritual fruit requires intentional cultivation and attention. By identifying and removing the things that crowd out God’s presence—whether they are worries, habits, or even good things that have become too important—we make space for His voice to grow and bear fruit in our lives. [41:50]

Hebrews 12:1 (ESV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Reflection: What is one distraction or “weed” you can name and begin to remove this week to make more room for God’s voice in your life?

Day 5: Decide in Advance to Obey God’s Voice

God speaks most clearly and frequently to those who have already determined in their hearts to obey whatever He says, rather than waiting to decide after hearing His instructions. When we surrender our lives fully to Him, trusting that His plans are good and that He leads us into blessing and purpose, we position ourselves to receive His guidance and experience the joy and fruitfulness that come from following Him wholeheartedly. [48:18]

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you need to say “yes” to God before you know all the details, trusting Him enough to obey whatever He asks?

Sermon Summary

In a world that seems increasingly dark and overwhelmed by evil, it’s easy to feel helpless, angry, or confused. Yet, God has not left us without hope or direction. He has called us to be the salt and light of the earth, preserving the truth that He is still good, even in the midst of pain and tragedy. The instruction from Romans 12:21—“Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good”—reminds us that our response to evil is not to be passive or despairing, but to actively reflect God’s character through kindness, compassion, and encouragement. We are called to rise above the noise and chaos, to unite as the body of Christ, and to show the world that hope is not lost.

But to do this, we must be able to hear and discern the voice of God. Just as an opera singer can be deafened by the sound of his own voice, we too can become deaf to God’s direction because of the many competing voices in our lives—our own negative self-talk, the criticism of others, the pressures of culture, and the condemnation of the enemy. Jesus taught that God’s voice is often a gentle whisper, not a shout, and that the posture of our hearts determines whether we can truly hear Him.

Through the parable of the sower in Luke 8, Jesus illustrated four types of heart postures: the hard and closed, the shallow and distracted, the crowded and anxious, and the open and fertile. The key to hearing God’s voice is to cultivate humility, create intentional time to listen, eliminate distractions, and, most importantly, to decide in advance to obey whatever God says. God speaks most clearly to those who have already determined to follow His lead, no matter the cost.

This is not just theory—it is a lived reality. When we trust God from the bottom of our hearts and listen for His voice in every area of our lives, He promises to keep us on track. The journey of faith is not about having all the answers or never facing pain, but about clinging to God’s word, living it out, and experiencing the joy and blessing that comes from walking in step with Him. For those who have never put their trust in Christ, today is the invitation to hear His voice, receive His forgiveness, and step into the hope and peace that only He can give.

Key Takeaways

1. Evil is real and pervasive, but God calls His people to overcome it with good. Our role as salt and light is not just to resist evil, but to actively preserve and reflect the goodness of God in a broken world. This requires intentional acts of kindness, compassion, and encouragement, even when it feels like darkness is winning. [10:44]
2. The greatest barrier to hearing God’s voice is often the noise of our own inner dialogue, the criticism of others, and the distractions of culture. Like the opera singer deafened by his own voice, we can become spiritually tone-deaf if we allow negativity, condemnation, or cultural pressures to dominate our thinking. Tuning in to God’s whisper requires us to quiet these competing voices and cultivate spiritual sensitivity. [18:00]
3. The posture of our hearts determines our ability to hear God. Hardness, pride, fear, and bitterness can close us off from God’s direction, while humility, openness, and trust create fertile ground for His word to take root. Pain and disappointment are real, but if we allow them to make us bitter, we miss the healing and guidance God longs to give. [34:35]
4. Spiritual growth and discernment require intentionality—creating time to listen, joining in community, and acting on what God says. Shallow roots make us vulnerable to falling away when life gets hard, but deep roots are cultivated through consistent engagement with God’s word, prayer, and fellowship with other believers. It’s not enough to be moved emotionally; transformation comes when we put God’s word into action. [38:17]
5. God speaks most clearly to those who have already decided to obey. Many people wait to hear what God will say before deciding whether to follow, but true clarity comes when we settle in advance that we will do whatever He asks. This posture of surrender attracts the guidance and blessing of God, leading to a life marked by joy, purpose, and fruitfulness. [44:59]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:10] - Acknowledging Tragedy and Evil in the World
[06:30] - God’s Call to Overcome Evil with Good
[09:45] - The Role of Salt and Light
[13:00] - The Importance of Hearing God’s Voice
[16:04] - The Tomatis Effect: Deafened by Our Own Voice
[18:00] - Competing Voices: Negativity, Criticism, and Culture
[21:30] - God’s Whisper and the Story of Elijah
[23:47] - The Parable of the Sower Explained
[24:45] - The Footpath Factor: Hard and Closed Hearts
[30:16] - Fear, Bitterness, and Trusting God’s Goodness
[34:35] - Creating Time to Listen and Grow Deep Roots
[38:17] - Moving from Emotion to Action
[39:14] - Scheduling God First
[41:00] - The Warning of the Weeds: Eliminating Distractions
[44:59] - Deciding in Advance to Obey God
[48:18] - Trusting God in Every Area of Life
[50:00] - Invitation to Respond to God’s Voice

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Romans 12:21 (ESV) — > Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Luke 8:4-15 (ESV) – The Parable of the Sower — > And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” ... (Read through verse 15)

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) — > Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Observation Questions

In Romans 12:21, what is the specific instruction Paul gives about how to respond to evil?
According to the parable of the sower in Luke 8:4-15, what are the four different types of soil, and what do they represent? ([23:47])
In the sermon, what are some of the “competing voices” that can drown out God’s voice in our lives? ([18:00])
What does Proverbs 3:5-6 say is the result of trusting God and listening for His voice in every area of life? ([48:18])

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Paul tells believers not just to resist evil, but to “overcome evil with good”? What does this look like in a world that feels overwhelmed by darkness? ([10:44])
In the parable of the sower, why is the “posture of our hearts” so important for hearing God’s voice? How do the different soils reflect different heart attitudes? ([23:47])
The sermon mentions that God’s voice is often a “gentle whisper” rather than a shout. Why might God choose to speak this way, and what does it require from us to hear Him? ([21:30])
According to the sermon, what is the connection between deciding in advance to obey God and being able to hear His voice more clearly? ([44:59])

Application Questions

The sermon challenges us to “overcome evil with good” through intentional acts of kindness, compassion, and encouragement. Can you think of a recent situation where you were tempted to respond to evil or negativity with anger or despair? How could you have responded differently? ([10:44])
The “competing voices” in our lives—negative self-talk, criticism, cultural pressure—can drown out God’s whisper. What is one specific voice or influence you need to quiet this week in order to better hear from God? ([18:00])
Looking at the four types of soil in Luke 8, which one do you most identify with right now? What is one step you can take to cultivate a more “fertile” heart for God’s word? ([23:47])
The sermon says that pain and disappointment can make us bitter and closed off to God. Is there a hurt or disappointment in your life that is making it hard for you to trust God? What would it look like to bring that honestly to Him this week? ([34:35])
Creating intentional time to listen to God is essential for spiritual growth. What is one practical way you can schedule time with God this week—maybe by setting aside a specific time each day, or by joining with others for prayer or Bible study? ([39:14])
The pastor said that God speaks most clearly to those who have already decided to obey. Is there an area of your life where you are waiting to hear from God before you decide to obey? What would it look like to surrender that area to Him in advance? ([44:59])
For those who have never put their trust in Christ, the sermon offers an invitation to respond to God’s voice. If you haven’t made that decision, what questions or hesitations do you have? If you have, how can you encourage someone else to take that step? ([50:00])

Sermon Clips

God knew that he was going to leave his people, he was going to save us and deliver us, but that we were going to be forced to continue to live in a world that's broken by sin, that's broken by and exposed to evil around us everywhere. He told us this and so he gave us an instruction as the people of God through the Apostle Paul and I think this is a verse that especially in the days that has passed and maybe the days that are coming you need to memorize the word of God, you need to write this down, put it in your dash, put it on your mirror, you just need to put it somewhere and I'm mowing Friday morning and here's the word that kept coming to me out of Romans 12 and 21: do not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. [00:10:10] (44 seconds) #OvercomeEvilWithGood

You need to tune out of social media some you just need to log off you need to turn the TV off a little bit okay seriously because of what it'll do to your soul what do you do to your spirit and you need to begin to lean into the Word of God more lean into the voice of God more lean into the Spirit of God more but how can you do that if you don't know how to recognize and discern the voice of God that's what we're gonna talk about for the next three weeks there's only one voice that really matters and in all this sea of voices that are trying to bait us to follow them and to beg us to subscribe to their way and the world that's trying to get us to to follow them there's only one voice that needs to drown out all the others that the people of God followed. [00:13:03] (38 seconds) #HearOnlyGodsVoice

We all have problems in our lives. You have problems in your life. I have problems in my life. Being a pastor doesn't exempt me from the problems of life. You have relational problems in this room. There are emotional problems in this room. There are spiritual problems in this room. And oftentimes we think that the problems are the problem. But it's not. I'm convinced that many times they are just symptoms of a bigger issue, a root cause, a spiritual Tomatis effect, if you will. Ears that have been deafened to the direction, the leadership, and the voice of our living God. [00:17:13] (36 seconds) #RootCauseNotProblems

Sometimes it's not our voice, it's the voice of criticism around us. Sometimes there's people around us that are pessimists, and I've always warned you to be very, very careful about the people that you allow speak into your life, right? Because a pessimist is not only suicidal of their dreams, they're homicidal of yours. They don't only believe they can't do it, but they don't want to see you go any farther or do it either, and sometimes they deafen us to the voice of God. [00:18:31] (33 seconds) #GuardYourHeartFromPessimism

Humility is the first place that we posture our heart to hear the voice of God. We come to our heavenly father as his creation, knowing he is the creator, and we posture ourselves in that position with humility. He is sovereign. I am not. He wrote it. I don't understand it all, and I've always said this to you, that when you read the word of God, and you read something that rubs you the wrong way, or you disagree with, humility is taking the posture, I am wrong. I am wrong, and God is right. [00:29:43] (36 seconds) #FearlessInGodsLove

If you get bitter you're never gonna get better and I'm just promising you this one day the Bible says that when he returns he is going to purge this earth and make all things new he did promise that there will come a day when the lion will lay down with the lamb and there will be no more tears or pain or separation or grief or death it is going to be beautiful and blissful but until that day you and I have to live in a sin-torn devastatingly evil world and because of that there is fallout of the fall that happened in the garden and we have to live with some of the pain that comes from that and Jesus was honest about it that's what I appreciate he was so honest about it he said in these in this world you will have tribulation not you might not you know what you might be one of the few that gets to skip pain and heartache you know man you're gonna have it he said the rain falls on the just and the unjust in Matthew it's coming to everybody that's the translation man rain coming everybody getting wet bro that's what's going on but his promise was I'll be with you my grace will be sufficient you're gonna make it through. [00:33:03] (72 seconds) #TrustGodHealOpenHeart

Don't distrust everyone just because you found out you couldn't trust someone. Don't close your heart to future relationships just because you found out past relationships couldn't be trusted. Dude, you can trust God. You can depend on God. You can lean on God. He loves you. And he actually, the Bible says in Psalms, that he hurts with you, that he's close to the broken and the contrite in spirit. He desires to heal you and set you free, and he will if you cultivate an open heart and let him speak into your life. [00:34:52] (30 seconds) #FaithInActionChangesLives

Shallow roots make us vulnerable. It's great when God's Word moves your heart, but you listen to me carefully. You'll never experience the true freedom of His Word if it never moves your hands and feet. It can move your heart, and you can go, Pastor, I wept today as you preached, and I'm going to go, praise God. Now, what you're going to actually do with this thing when you leave here today? Because I'm grateful it touched you. But my question as a pastor is, is it going to move you? Is it actually going to do something in your life? Is it actually going to produce something in your life? Is it going to change the way you address the world with your hands and your feet? [00:38:04] (43 seconds) #PrioritizeGodFirst

We tend to schedule everything and everything else and allocate time for everything else in our life but then we just hope we can find time for God you've set yourself up for disaster time with God should not be what I have left over after I have scheduled my entire life out first fruits you should live your life out of Matthew 6 and 33 seek righteousness in his kingdom first and when you do that all of these other things will flow and be added to you when you get your calendar out and schedule God should be the first thing you pin in and if you'll do that everything else will flow out of that and you will be amazed at how the rest of this begins to just follow a beautiful trajectory. [00:39:57] (52 seconds) #CultivateFruitNotWeeds

Trust God from the bottom of your heart. Don't try to figure out everything in your own. Listen for God's voice in some of what you do. Everything you do. Listen for his voice in your marriage. Listen for his voice in your parenting. Listen for his voice in your finances. Listen for his voice in your relationships. Listen for his voice in every part of business in your life. Listen for his voice in your personal leadership and everywhere you go. And if you do, he's the one who will make sure that he keeps you on track. [00:48:18] (39 seconds) #DoWhateverHeSays

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