Leighann McCoy - A Womans Guide to Hearing Gods Voice: Finding Direction and Peace Through the Struggles of Life

2013 by Leighann McCoy

Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Ebook edition created 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-6155-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations identified HCSB quotations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations identified T HE M ESSAGE are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Scripture quotations identified NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations identified NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphasis in Scripture is the authors.

Cover design by Lookout Design, Inc.
Cover photo: Dougal Waters/Image Bank/Getty Images

Author is represented by Smith Management Partners, LLC

Dedicated to my granddaughter

Misty Sierra Crowe

You helped me discover that Gods greatest blessings often come through the fire

and that I was made to be a Nana.

Keep blooming, my beautiful desert flower.

W riting a book might seem like a personal task, but I have to confess that the books I write are more of a group project. Without the following people, this book would have never come to be.

First there is my good husband, best friend, and life partner, Tom McCoy. Since hes been my pastor for twenty-four years, most likely much of what I teach came first from what he preached. Not only that, but without his encouragement I would have never sent the first proposal to a publisher. He earned Husband of the Year for making good on the vows he took in 1987 to love me in sickness and in health. I would not be who I am without him.

Then there are my three children who, just because they call me Mother, have given their lives to be living, breathing illustrations in my books. Mikel and Kaleigh even had to sign releases, and TJ got off easy this go-round because he charges me for the mention of his name. I never knew what ferocious love was until these three called me Mom. And Im grateful for what theyve taught and continue to teach me.

I have two other children, and although they are new to me, their impact on my life and my journey with God has been tremendous. These two have maybe even had the most influence on the truths Im sharing in this book. There is my son-in-law, Austin, who is serving today in the U.S. Army and on tour in Afghanistan. And there is my beautiful granddaughter, Misty, to whom Ive dedicated this book.

I am blessed to still have my parents here on earth with me, and their encouragement during these days was precious to me. I am who I am because of what they have poured into me.

Of course I also have my book people to thank: my manager, Ron Smith, who chooses to believe in me; and my team at Bethany House Publishers, who make my writing better and who tell the world Ive got something to say: Andy McGuire, Ellen Chalifoux, and Brett Benson. I am truly grateful to each of these and the others who make my manuscript a book.

I could not go without also thanking the family of faith we call Thompson Station Church. When God called Tom and me to the dark places, they insisted on following us there. And they brought food. Over a hundred people prepared meals for my family for eight months. They prayed for us and sent us cards, text messages, and emails to encourage us every step of the way. I am so grateful to them for their ministry of encouragement. I also want to thank our pastors and ministry assistants, especially my assistant, Rhonda Brady. She kept me on track when my chemo brain threatened to derail me.

And last but certainly not least, I want to thank some of my dearest friends and prayer partners. Not only did they pray me through this project, but they also provided homemade chicken noodle soup, grapefruit juice, and companionship along the way. Terra, Kathleen, Marti, and Karen, you know that you are dear to me!

R ecently someone asked me how I was doing. I didnt answer right away. I paused long enough to ponder whether I should tell them the truth or just give them a quick, Fine, how are you? with a cheery smile. In an effort to maintain my integrity and yet not be caught in a thirty-minute diatribe, I grinned and said, Im navigating crazy, how are you doing?

Who isnt doing that? Who has ever lived without dealing with crazy people, crazy situations, crazy thoughts, and crazy feelings?

While this book is mostly about learning to hear and respond to the voice of God, it is also about growing in your understanding that He is the same today as He was yesterday, and He will be the same tomorrow as He is today. God never changes, nor do His promises. But sometimes the struggles of life cause us to doubt that truth. This book is about taking hold of Truth and refusing to let Him go.

A Surprise on the Battlefield

While I was writing my previous book, Spiritual Warfare for Women , I experienced several crises in my life. When my manager, Ron, called to tell me that Bethany House had accepted my book proposal, my plane had just landed on a runway in Las Vegas. I was there to lead a weekend retreat. Five days earlier, I woke up from a lets just make sure everything is okay colonoscopy and learned that I had cancer. Two months after my cancer diagnosis, our church was flooded when torrential rain poured over mid-Tennessee. Our worship center and childrens wings sustained over $275,000 worth of damage. And a month after the flood, my daughter moved out of our home. She took her sister out to dinner so that her boyfriend and his friends could move her furniture and belongings while she was gone. Wed left both our girls home that weekend, certain they were getting on the bus to youth camp Sunday morning. Instead of getting on that bus, Mikel moved in with her boyfriend and walked away from thousands of dollars of scholarships at a great Christian university. Two weeks later we discovered she was pregnant. About three months after that, my son was diagnosed with mono. He missed three weeks of school and still struggled with a compromised immune system a year later. A month after TJs mono, my husband had plastic surgery for cancer on his eyelid, and about three weeks after Toms surgery, my other daughter was diagnosed with the possible beginning of polycystic ovarian syndromethe same diagnosis I suffered when I dealt with infertility twenty years ago. For years wed been a healthy and happy family, but the year I wrote Spiritual Warfare for Women , we were fraught with disease and syndromes, catastrophic weather, and devastating heartache.