Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Does God 'nudge' people?
the 'nudge' idea may correspond with the influence of the Holy Spirit living in a person. i believe that happens, but i do not know how to distinguish between 'what i think' and 'whatever the HS injects into my stream of consciousness'. have you ever been nudged, or otherwise influenced by the HS?
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"Nudge" might be a good word. For me, I find that when I genuinely open myself to God in prayer, I often receive "messaging" that immediately responds to my concerns even before I utter it. It's not an audible voice, but it's a clear message. If that's a "nudge," then yes, I've been nudged.
I would attribute the messaging to God or, more likely, to the Holy Spirit.
The content of the message is occasionally a conviction of some guilt in my life that stands in the way between me and God. But sometimes it pertains specifically to my reason for praying in the first place.
I tend to confirm that it's from God because its content is so clearly in tune with the essence of God in the New Testament. I generally don't bother God with issues such as which job to take, which car/house to buy, or other physical concerns.
I rarely speak about this "messaging" because I am turned off by others who boldly claim that God spoke to them or that God caused this or that event in their life. I generally keep this stuff to myself because it's only "by faith" that I attribute the message to God or the Holy Spirit.
At the same time, it's possible that this message is my own conscience speaking or some preconceived concept from brain's databank. When speaking about these "nudgings," one of my favorite statements is, "I don't know if it came from God or from last night's pizza."
The truth is, we have a lot of possible influences on our moods, our desires, and our thinking. Satan himself might be the source of the nudge.
It's not that easy to distinguish God's voice from my own. For me, the proof is in the pudding; i.e., if the message is clearly in tune with my understanding of God, then I'm more likely to attribute it to God.
Make sense?
yes, it makes sense. i, too, keep my announcements about God's activity to myself. yet, i still cannot say with certainty what comes from God and what does not. i absolutely do not trust myself when i dig around in my soul for messages from God. i have no way to determine what is from God and what is my own wishful thinking. i can say that if i find myself saying that God wants me to have a new car, that indeed is NOT coming from God. i believe God could care less about that, other than being displeased that i would be so selfish. but, i still question where to draw the line when taking requests to God. my life history indicates that i am pretty crappy at boot-strapping my way through life. my past is littered with poor choices that just did not work out like i thought they would. they were choices i presented to God in the hope that i would receive some divine direction. and who is to say that the divine direction actually was 'you are going to make a lot of crappy decisions, good luck.' to me, career choices, resolving marriage problems, help with parenting are sufficiently big enough issues to take to God and expect some reply. what do i do with that?
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