"I feel led.... God Told Me...."

"I feel led.... God Told Me...."

http://reformationinprogress.blogspot.com/2007/05/i-feel-led-god-told-me.html

One of those issues that has gotten under my skin for a long time is the issue that I call the "God told me" syndrome. People who suffer from this problem often experience symptoms such as, but not limited to:

* Weak theology
* Self justification of sin
* Gratification of the flesh
* A rejection of Sola Scriptura and the Sufficiency of Scripture

I myself, a former charismatic, have suffered from this condition. Yes it's true, there was a time when I would often say things like, "God told me..." or "God led me to do this" or "I think God is leading me to..." I would use these catch phrases to justify something I wanted to do. I sometimes genuinely convinced myself that God had really said something to me, but Got frustrated when it did not happen. I've had other experiences where friends would tell me that God told them something. I had a girlfriend in High school break up with me because God told her to. I had a friend that told me God told him that I shouldn't get married to the person who is now my wife of almost 4 years (whom I love and God has blessed our marriage). I couldn't figure out why God would tell my friend that, and not me. Maybe I wasn't listening, or maybe I was right that my friend just wasn't happy with the relationship I had with my fiance' that moved to quick for most people. (I asked Susan to marry me one day less than a month after meeting her.) So I have been guilty of this disease and I have suffered from the symptoms of others as well. But let me ask you this, when can we actually say that God told us something?

I submit to you that the only time we can confidently say "God told me..." is when we can follow it up with something like "...In John chapter 10..." After all, the only way we can know for sure the will of God is through his word. 2 Timothy 3 :17 tells us that Scripture makes the man of God "...competent, equipped for every good work."
Therefore when we come to a difficult decision or we are needing some guidance on any given issue, where should we turn? Do we stop and listen to that inner voice? No. We go to the Scripture that is sufficient to make us competent, and equipped for every good work.

When a person says that God told them something, my response is always, "What did God sound like? I mean if you heard from God, tell me what He sounds like, I'm eager to know!" Of course, that's not what they meant. They did not hear the audible voice of God. So then they might say, "Well, I feel God leading me to do this." Then of course I can't help but ask, "Really? How does it feel when God leads you?" About that time they are tired of my questions.

But here is the point, what do people mean when they say "God told me..." or "God is leading me..."? How does God do this to them? They just feel it in their heart? But Jeremiah 17:9 says,

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

The problem here is that we are sinners. We have been seriously marred by sin. And even if you are a new creation in Christ, the Scripture tells us that we will struggle to defeat the flesh (our sinful old nature) for the rest of our earthly existence. So can we trust our feelings? Absolutely not. Our feeling are subjective. Think, right now as you are reading this, how many ungodly thoughts and feeling have you had this month, this week, today? If you're honest you will say, "I've had a whole lot." I know I have. Why? Because I'm a jacked up sinner in need of God's grace every moment I draw another breath.

So when I have a decision that needs made, or I need guidance, what do I need to do? I need to pray and go to the word of God. It is a dangerous thing that is being taught that people should merely pray, ask God for answers and sit quietly and listen for his voice. That is not how God tells us He operates. Who knows what you might here? You might hear your own desires saying "Yeah, do this" or perhaps a demon might speak to you and you think it's God! How do you know? What does God sound like?

I'm certainly this is where someone will say to me, "But the book of James tells us that 'if anyone of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.'" (James 1:5) Well, yes it does. But it says wisdom and not knowledge. Wisdom, biblically speaking, is the application of knowledge. So Scripture is not saying, if you don't know something, ask God to tell you, rather, if you know the truth but don't know how to apply it, ask God for wisdom in how to do so.

How then do we let God lead us? Obviously it is something we want to do. We must let God take control. Take Ephesians 5:17-21 for instance:

"17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, 20giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."

Being filled with the Spirit is contrasted with being filled with too much wine. Wine controls in a negative way when a person become drunk, but the Spirit controls in a good way when people immerse themselves in Him. We are to give ourselves to the worship of God, the study of the Scripture, the fellowship of other believers, and other things that we are told bring glory to God. This is how we give control to the Spirit and let Him lead us, by doing what He tells us to do, being obedient to the word of God.

When Jesus talks about the coming of the Holy Spirit he tells His disciples that the Spirit will teach them all things and bring to remembrance the things that Jesus taught. This is how God speaks to us today also. As we worship God, pray to Him for guidance and wisdom, and seek Him in the Scriptures, the Spirit will bring to remembrance the things God has told us, in His word.

When we make decision about buying a home or a car, God might remind us about the parable of the talents and being a good steward with the money He gives us. We pray and think and then make a decision that we believe most honors the Lord with what He has given us. This doesn't make our decision inerrant, but it's a much better approach then just doing what we want and saying "God told me." The same is true for any circumstance. Dating for instance. Should I date this person or not. Well the Bible tells us to be evenly yoked, is she a Christian? Does she hold my conviction about the Bible and things that matter to God? Seek the word of God in Scripture, pray about it and make the decision that you think honors God.

Scripture alone is our authority that equips us for every good work. Trust God's word, not inner voices and urges, you do not know who those voices belong to.

Hebrews 1:1-2

"1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world."

We have the word of Christ in written form. You need seek nothing else for answers. Ask God for wisdom as you read His truth that is already revealed.

Here is a link on this same issue that I appreciated by Pastor Steve Cornell:
http://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/do-inner-promptings-reveal-gods-will/

Do inner promptings reveal God’s will?

Do inner promptings reveal God’s will?

http://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/do-inner-promptings-reveal-gods-will/

Posted on May 26th, 2007.

Should we appeal to inner promptings or feelings to lead us into God’s will? Have you ever heard someone profess to feel God’s leading toward something that you doubted to be His will? I have repeatedly cautioned people against appealing to inner promptings as indicators of God’s will. Many times, these inner impressions are assigned to the work of the Holy Spirit. “I feel led by the Spirit…,” someone will say. Yet how can we tell whether impressions are from God or from another source?

“This is a critical question.” wrote Garry Friesen, ”For impressions could be produced by any number of sources: God, Satan, an angel, a demon, human emotions (such as fear or ecstasy), hormonal imbalance, insomnia, medication, or an upset stomach. Sinful impressions (temptations) may be exposed for what they are by the Spirit-sensitized conscience and the Word of God. But beyond that, one encounters a subjective quagmire or uncertainty. For in nonmoral areas, Scripture gives no guidelines for distinguishing the voice of the Spirit from the voice of the self or any other potential `voice’. And experience offers no reliable means of identification either (which is why the question comes up in the first place). Tremendous frustration has been experienced by sincere Christians who have earnestly but fruitlessly sought to decipher the code of the inward witness. Impressions are real; believers experience them. But impressions are not authoritative. Impressions are impressions. Call them `spiritual’ or attribute them to the Holy Spirit, and they are still the same just impressions. Impressions by any other name confuse the issue and confound the believer in the process of decision making.” (Garry Friesen, Decision Making and the Will of God, pp. 130-131.)

Does Romans 8:14 teach us to look to inner promptings from the Spirit for guidance? This verse says, “Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God.” In context, the reference to being “led by the Spirit” does not refer to inner “voices” or any such experience, but to mortifying known sin and not living after the flesh!

“The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit will lead us, but we are never told He will do this by some inner urge. It is interesting in this connection that when Jesus told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit would lead them into all truth, He said, `He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you’ (John 14:26). Here the leading is bringing to mind Jesus’ statements. The mind of each disciple is the instrument the Spirit will use, not some non-rational, mystical factor.” (Arthur L. Johnson, Faith Misguided: Exposing the Dangers of Mysticism.)

Many respected Bible teachers offer strong warnings about following inner impressions. Consider some of their statements:

“The idea of a life in which the inward voice of the Spirit decides and directs everything sounds most attractive, for it seems to exalt the Spirit’s ministry and to promise the closest intimacy with God; but in practice this quest for super-spirituality leads only to frantic bewilderment or lunacy. Yet the true way to honor the Holy Spirit as our guide is to honor the Holy Scriptures through which He guides us. The fundamental guidance which God gives to shape our lives the instilling, that is, of the basic convictions, attitudes, ideals and value judgments, in terms of which we are to live is not a matter of inward promptings apart from the Word but of the pressure on our consciences of the portrayal of God’s character and will in the Word which the Spirit enlightens us to understand and apply to ourselves.” (J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 235.)

“Most of the biblical passages that deal with the will of God focus on holiness, living in harmony with one’s family, obeying God and the like. The kind of determining of God’s will that utterly depends on voices, internal promptings, `burdens’, and the like can indeed prove far too subjective, especially when such experiences are invested with an authority that challenges the criteria of Scripture or the consensus wisdom of mature, spiritually-minded Christians.” (D.A. Carson, Letters Along the Way, pp. 132.)

“Scripture never commands us to tune into any inner voice. We’re commanded to study and meditate on Scripture (Joshua 1:8; Ps. 1:1-2). We’re instructed to cultivate wisdom and discernment (Prov. 4:5-8). We’re told to walk wisely and make the most of our time (Eph. 5:15-16). We’re ordered to be obedient to God’s commands (Deut. 28:1-2; Jn. 15:14). But we are never encouraged to listen for inner promptings. On the contrary, we are warned that our hearts are so deceitful and desperately wicked that we cannot understand them (Jer. 17:9). Surely this should make us very reluctant to heed promptings and messages that arise from within ourselves. Those willing to heed inner voices and mental impressions may be listening to the lies of a deceitful heart, the fantasies of an overactive imagination, or even the voice of a demon. Once objective criteria are cast aside, there is no way to know the difference between truth and falsehood. Those who follow subjective impressions are by definition undiscerning.” (John F. MacArthur, Jr. Reckless Faith, pp. 189-193.)

Paul Little, in his helpful pamphlet entitled, “Affirming The Will Of God,” offered a relevant illustration. “Several years ago I knew a girl who had signed a contract to teach. In August, she received another offer from a school closer to where she wanted to live. So she broke the original contract. Had she acted on the biblical principle in Psalm 15:4, where God says that He is pleased with a person who swears to his own hurt and does not change, she would not have done that. The department chairman who told me about the Christian girl’s action said her justification was `I have a peace about it,’ and he commented rather sardonically, `Isn’t that lovely? She’s got the peace and I’ve got the pieces.’

I believe that girl missed the will of God. She violated a principle which, if she had been alert and had applied it to her situation, would have given her clear guidance in this specific detail of her life. God guides, then, through His Word and its principles.“This is one of the most neglected dimensions of guidance today. It sounds terribly spiritual to say `God led me,’ but I am always suspicious of a person who implies that he has a personal pipeline to God. When no one else senses that what the person suggests is the will of God, then we had better be careful. God has been blamed for the most outlandish things by people who have confused their own inverted pride with God’s will. Occasionally I hear of a guy who, in the name of spiritual guidance, rushes up to a girl and says, `Susie, God has told me you’re to marry me.’ I have news for him. If that is the will of God, then Susie is going to get the message too. If she does not, somebody’s radar is jammed, and it’s not hard to tell whose.”

The collective wisdom of these teachers should caution believers against allowing inner impressions to lead them as a final voice from God. The potential for subjective, self-serving, misguided or even Satanic influences is strong.

In summary, God works in the whole person: intellect, emotion and will. God clearly uses conscience to restrain and protect us. But conscience like inner urges must be yielded to the objective truth of Scripture. We cannot debate another person’s feelings or inner impressions, but we can evaluate those impressions based on objective considerations. Be a good (and obedient) student of Scripture rather than your feelings and you will flourish in God’s will (Deuteronomy 8:3-5; Psalm1; 19:7-11; 119; II Timothy 3:16-17).

Pastor Steve Cornell