I sing with the small praise band at my church, and I love it. I’m not the best singer solo, but with my husband leading beside me on guitar and vocals, I fall into my sweet spot and layer in harmonies. I love looking into the sanctuary and seeing dear friends all worshipping, my kids sitting (hopefully) in the back row with my beloved mom, and my husband at my side. It’s a wonder we’re all in a church building together at all, and not a week goes by that I don’t whisper thanks to the One who mends wounds and stitches hearts and gathers us all in with welcome and grace.

Last night our little band was rehearsing for Sunday. This week’s musicians include our director singing and playing piano, three other singers (one of them on guitar), a drummer, and a bass player. To hear ourselves and one another clearly, we use several monitors placed in front of each musician or group. When connected to the system, these monitors play the combined audio from all the vocal and instrument microphones.

As I’m singing at rehearsal, I notice I can’t hear my vocals in the monitor nearest me. I can’t hear my husband’s guitar. I’m not hearing any other vocals either. We stop playing, and the director goes back to the sound booth to adjust the monitor and mic levels. We all think it’s better, and we start again. But still, I can’t hear anything out of my monitor!

However, I am convinced that since everyone else seems fine, the problem must be me. I bend down and put my ear nearly on the monitor, straining to hear, and finally ask to pause again.

That’s when I notice… the blue plug lying on the floor. The monitor isn’t even plugged in!

We all have a good laugh, plug it in, adjust the sound levels, and what do you know – I can hear it all now! Everything is clearer. Everything is easier to follow.

And then I wonder why I doubted myself in the first place. Why I scoffed a little at needing the volume turned up when no one else did. Why, in the back of my mind, I told myself I was causing trouble and should just keep it to myself because obviously I was the only one who couldn’t hear from that monitor.

When all along, it wasn’t me; the thing wasn’t even plugged in.

Do you ever do this? Doubt yourself when you were right all along? It’s a subtle kind of self-gaslighting — when we dismiss our own awareness, our gut instincts, our God-given discernment.

Maybe you haven’t experienced this with a praise band and unplugged monitor, but in other ways. Maybe it’s a nagging medical issue, barely enough to inconvenience you but persisting anyway, and sure enough, there’s a concern. Maybe it’s a gut feeling that your family’s spending habits need to change, and sure enough, a big bill comes due. Or a church that just isn’t a good fit, and sure enough, you find another place that feels like home. Or a person who has always been around, who has always made you feel uncomfortable or unhappy, and sure enough, you learn they’re not worthy of your trust.

We second-guess ourselves because it feels safer, easier even, to assume we’re the problem rather than facing what might really be happening. But sometimes, that quiet sense in our soul isn’t suspicion or anxiety — it’s God’s Spirit, whispering truth and guidance right where and when we need it.

In our church, we have a saying for volunteer projects: God’s work, our hands. It means God is using our hands to do His good work as we clean, feed, clothe, support, and love. God uses us — and the things of this world — to speak His love and to speak to our hearts.

God spoke to Moses in a bush aflame and to Elijah in a still, small voice.
Noah followed his heart and picked up a hammer.
God used pillars of fire and cloud to guide, and salt to care.
Rahab listened to her gut and saved her whole family.

And Jesus, who was fully God, also became fully man. He regularly used earthly items to illustrate His stories and make miracles: pigs, mud, wine, water, dirt, spit, fish, bread… and people.

God’s voice doesn’t always sound like we thought it would. Three times, Samuel thought Eli was calling to him, when what he was actually hearing was the voice of the Lord.

So how often do we ignore that still, small voice in our hearts? When have we mistaken God’s voice for another’s? How often do we turn away from the bush ablaze? When have we missed the pillars of fire and cloud, and instead turned to the internet for guidance? How many times have we not trusted our gut feelings? When have we thought we were the problem — only to find the speaker unplugged?

Oh, we can get it so very wrong.

But the good news is that God still speaks right to our hearts with the very stuff of our lives. He uses our instincts, our questions, our longing, our everyday surroundings to reach us.

So check to see if the monitor is plugged in. Look at the bush on fire. Stare directly into the pillar of cloud leading the way, no matter how thick the fog gets. Keep an ear wide open for that still, small voice.

Don’t doubt yourself. God is speaking loud and clear.

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