We are asking God that you may see things,

as it were, from His point of view

by being given spiritual insight and understanding.

Colossians 1:9 (J.B. Phillips)

He had been in to talk with Bill several times and had shared, without any apparent regret or repentance, that he was having an affair with Marilyn, his best friend’s wife. The coup de grace came the morning he told Bill, quite seriously and with obvious relief and joy that he had “heard from God”. “I was standing out in that hard rain last night, looking up into the Heavens, and God told me to divorce my wife and marry Marilyn.” (Hummm – are you really sure?)

God will never contradict Himself in His Word, through the Spirit dwelling within, or in a hard rain while you are looking up to Heaven! If what you “hear” is not in keeping with His revealed will – His Word – then you did not hear from God. Malachi 2:16 represents God in this scenario when He says, I hate divorce. That is the answer to your dilemma with Marilyn very clearly stated.

In the same way, if you believe you have a “word” from God and that word is not fulfilled, it in no way means that God lied to you, was playing on your emotions, or exploiting you: It means you did not hear what you thought you heard.

A friend came up to me several weeks ago and announced, “I am no longer a Christian. I am an agnostic. I doubt His existence. He told me that my daughter would get well. He lied! I refuse to even acknowledge a God Who gives you hope, assures you that all is going well, and then doesn’t follow through with His word. How cruel! How sadistic! How unkind!”

If what I “hear” from God presents a different God than the God revealed to me through His Word, then I can be sure that I did not hear from God! I definitely did not hear from God!

What do you know about Him? He is kind. He is compassionate. He loves you. He is with you. That things do not go the way I wanted them to go does not mean that God is heartless and unkind. It means that in this fallen world bad things happen to good people. It means this is going to be a part of your life. We cannot understand the tragedies that face us, the losses that come into our lives creating grief and hardships, the unexpected pitfalls. But it has come. Now, grasp His hand, hold on tightly, clutch it firmly, and let Him lead you through the trauma. Walk in His strength to face each day. Let Him go with you through this hard thing.

You get to know someone as you spend time with that person. You discover their passions for living, their political leanings, their character traits, their favorite things. In the same way, we get to know God by spending time with Him. We must not view the Bible as religious teachings that have come down through the years. God, Himself, wrote this book.[1] Read it and find out His innermost thoughts and what His driving passions are. Read it and discover what kind of Person He is. Read it and meet this incredible God Who loves us extravagantly! Who gave Himself that we might have Life, Life abundantly.

So what are we to do when we pray earnestly – fervently – and it seems that the Spirit speaks to us and gives us an answer? We sense His presence. We are amazed that He would speak so clearly to us. And the answer validates your thoughts — Just what I thought I should do all along. Before you say that God spoke to you, ask two questions: (1) Is the answer in keeping with His Word (2) Is the answer in keeping with His revealed character? Are you really sure?

Remember, Christ prayed earnestly, fervently to be rescued from the cross. There was no answer from the Heavens. What did He do? He said to those around Him, Arise and let us be going.[2]

[1] II Peter 1:20-21, II Timothy 3:16

[2] Matthew 26:46