God's Will or Coincidence? (Pt. 1)

Have you ever had this happen to you? You are very depressed and you don’t know who to talk to or what to do next. So you pray to God for him to show you the way and you crack open your Bible, and then you randomly flip to a passage and start reading. And the answer you seek is right there! That must be a miracle! Or you’re wondering whether to quit your job that you hate, and start going into full-time ministry. You’ve listed all the pros and cons and put them all in neat orderly rows. And then you pray to God, with the list in your hand. Then you wait. And suddenly the answer comes to you! And you know exactly what to do.

Well, it hasn’t happened like that for me at all. I’m not saying that God doesn’t speak to people nowadays, I still believe in prophets and messengers from God. But so far for me, personally, God never talked to me in a clear manner. There’s always doubt lurking in the back of my mind. Did God really tell me to do that? Or is it just my inner desires talking? How can I know for sure?

According to the author, Henry Blackaby, in his book Experiencing God, there are 5 ways to tell if God wants you to do something. The only reason I remember this is because I led a Bible Study about it. Also, it’s the only thing I remember from my Bible Study. Yeah… it was so boring, even I fell asleep! Anyway, here they are.

• Bible


• Prayer


• Circumstances


• Church


• Direct

Got it? Good! See? I saved you money, now you don’t have to buy the book. Just kidding, Mr. Blackaby! Don’t sue me!

To sum up his book, you will know if God wants you to do something when you receive the same message from 2 or 3 of the above sources. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But it’s never as cut and dried as that. You can’t put God in a cookie cutter, and expect Him to follow your or any mortal’s rules. He’s above that. If everybody always required 2 or 3 confirmations, then some things would never get done. You know, important missionary stuff. (Note to Bob: Have my research staff give some examples here.)