One reason we need to be cautious about what our hearts supposedly tell us, is because we are often astoundingly wrong. Even the apostle Paul's heart told him wrong, at least one time of which we know. in II Corinthians 1:9, he relays how he and his team felt sure they were going to die as a result of persecution in Asia. Yet -- they did not die. God rescued them, and continued to rescue them to that very day (v. 10). Paul was optimistic that God would continue to rescue them from Satan's deadly perils.
Our hearts do not send reliable signals to us about what God is doing, or will do. Their impulses could be the result of a bit of undigested beef. Scrooge wasn't wrong, at least at that point. There is more gravy than grave in many of our fears. Self-trust leads to states of great fear (see II Cor. 1:9). Our heartsa deceive us. What we expect to happen is not a divine revelation of what is in fact going to happen. A man's steps are ordered by the Lord, but the Lord nowhere says that He gives us a heads-up through our hearts. We should concentrate on what is wise to do in the situation, and what the Lord ethically requires of us, and not waste time exploring our innards for clues of the future.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Next, tackle "I feel led to..." That'd be fun. It's funny (in a sense) how many Christians make decisions because they "felt led to..." I was talking with a friend recently whose daughter is a senior in Bible college who "felt called" into missions a couple years ago, but "doesn't feel called" anymore. Huh?
Nehemiah somehow knew that God put the idea of re-building Jerusalem into his heart. So I suppose he could have said that he felt led to do that. But Nehemiah also waited to see the Lord prove the leading with objective confirmations -- the emperor gave him permission to go, shocked everybody by financially underwriting the project, Nehemiah toured the city and got a clear blueprint in his mind on how to do it, and so on. He didn't just sally forth.
And how does God lead? That's a whole 'nother question. I maybe have backed off my Friesen-ism a little, but only a little. But saying, "I felt led" doesn't cut it a lot with me.
Post a Comment