Quote:
Originally Posted by Michlow
It seems like there are really two different questions at hand here.
1. Can God speak to someone?
2. Is God speaking to someone in these individual situations?
I think that God can (and does) speak to people. I base this simply on my own experiences, and the times He has spoken to me, and given me direction in my life.
However, just because someone says "God told me..." doesn't necessarily mean that God has.
My rule of thumb is this....
If I believe God is telling me something, as long as I believe that what He is telling me is in keeping with his character, then I listen.
When it comes to what God tells someone else? I am pretty much a "to each their own" kinda person. As long as they are not hurting anyone else, I figure it's between them and God. Of course, if God expects me to get on board the same train, He needs to speak to me just as loudly.
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The human mind is very complex, and its workings are not completely understood. But we do know that it often works in background mode, unconsciously. The result can be amazing. The solution to a problem we've been struggling with can suddenly arrive, out of the blue. We may slow the car down or change course a bit, just on a hunch, and avoid a collision. We get "vibes" about someone, and it turns out later we had good reason to distrust them or whatever.
Of course, when hunches or vibes don't "pan out", we don't notice them or we quickly forget them. It's the "hits" we remember, and perhaps attribute to a message from God. The same phenomena that help self-proclaimed prophets gain fame and fortune can work for ourselves, too, without even knowing it. The mind processes clues that we don't consciously notice, and processes lots of data in amazing ways. And some people are better at it than others. It can even be spooky!
Does it do any harm to think God speaks to us, even when maybe it wasn't really Him specifically putting thoughts in our heads? Maybe not. Usually. But sometimes, when it doesn't work, it can be discouraging and confusing. We may wonder why "God" let us down, this time. And sometimes, the suspected divine instruction is bad. Maybe just a little bad, or a
lot bad. So yes, it can be terribly harmful to think God speaks to us, when that kind of thing happens.
Does it do any harm
not to think God speaks to us? I say no. In fact, why not just trust that God has equipped us with what we need to live our lives, and be content with that? We have our minds, friends and family to help us, and many resources available. True, that doesn't always "work", either, but that's life. At least we won't start wondering why God let us down.
And if the occasional evil thought comes into our head, "kill your children", e.g., we'll just dismiss it as a weird, random thought. If it persists, we'll be inclined to get professional help. And we'll be unlikely to "obey" it.
And it
sure doesn't hurt to be very skeptical when someone says "God told me to tell you...."!
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