How does one know if they are hearing from God or just imagining something in their mind? It is a tough question for many people. Some go with the God idea for everything, and end up making God look like a fool when their own silly ideas don't pan out to be true. Others go the opposite direction and don't believe God would speak to them directly or specifically, thus may miss out on blessings and not be obedient. There has to be an in-between that can help us discern.
I am often drawn to the call of Abram in Genesis 12. "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." I often wonder if that was an audible unmistakeable voice, or was it just a feeling deep inside and a thought that was running in his mind. His response is pretty immediate though, "So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him;"
I must admit there have been times in my life where I had a strong feeling and thought in my head to go do this or that, and I opted to not do that thing which I felt. What I am unsure about is, was I disobeying god by not following that strong sense? Or was I being obedient by being content in what state I found myself in? It can be very confusing.
I've met people who tell me that God has told them to go into the mission field, or to go to seminary, or to do this, that, or the other. They seemed so sure about it. Not a single doubt seemed to cross their minds about it. I wish I could be so faithful; or to hear so well.
I've had this feeling.... and it has been with me for a while now... to get my affairs in order, sell off most of my things and to take off to a place where God will show me. I struggle with this. Is this something from God or something I would like to do? Isn't it better just to keep my mostly stable job, and keep putting away that retirement money and building up that pension? Why would I want to throw all that away? Are these not blessed provisions from the Lord? or would that be looking at it from the worlds point of view?
Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
One advantage we have that Abram didn't ws that we have God's written word. Of course perhaps Abram has the advantage with God speaking directly, I don't know. But I do know that we do have His written word. Any time we have a feeling and strong desire to do a particular thing, we have that filter of scripture to look at.
If something is from God, it will NEVER contradict scripture. God will never call you to be a pimp, or to go and assassinate someone. Those are sinful activities that God would never lead you to do. You will never be led to lie, cheat, or steal.
You have to ask yourself why you are feeling that you need to do the thing. Is what you feel is God calling going to bring glory to you or to God? Sometimes we feel like we are called to do something, but really it is only for self. A lot of people may feel like they want to be the pastor, up in front of the crowds, people hanging on your every word. Some people like to feel important and wield a little power and influence. They may feel called to be a deacon; but only because it fulfills their own desires.
As for me; I am still struggling a bit with the feelings I have of whether I am being called to something or not. I would love to hear directly from God in a no doubt audible way. Or, that may just scare the poop out of me, who knows? lol. In the mean time, I will get my affairs in order. I will study the word. I will pray. God has a way of making things either obvious or unavoidable from my experience.
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