After a few weeks of being too busy to participate in Five Minute Friday, I’m back at it. Today was miraculously open and then I was forced to stay home with a little boy who woke up with a fever. Sometimes forcing yourself to stay home and sit still is the best thing you can do.
Today’s Five Minute Friday prompt is “guide”. I’ll put five minutes on the timer and see what comes out of my brain.
Ready…set…write!
It’s hard to know where to go if you don’t have a guide.
I have often heard people say that God told them to do this, that, or the other. All my life I’ve been intrigued by this. Was it an audible voice? Did an angel come to them in a dream? Was the moment other worldly or just a passing moment of clarity?
And if it wasn’t an audible voice with specific instructions, how do they really know it was from God and not just their subconscious telling them what to do? A lot of people do things because they say they were “led by the spirit” or that God told them to do it and sometimes those things are disastrous and hurt people. But then again, sometimes those things lead to even more good things. Who is to say what “led” that person to make that decision?
This year I am the director for our after school program at church. The verse I picked out to go with our theme of Keep On Truckin’ is Psalm 25:4-5 “Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.”
I feel a little bit like Pinocchio asking Jimminy Cricket to help guide me along the way. What should I do? How do I know? What is the right decision?
The answer whether from this verse or God or a magical cricket seems to be the same. Let your conscience be your guide. Or as Emily P. Freeman puts it do the next right thing…in love.
Times up!
What do you rely on to guide you to the right decisions?
Lesley
I think God’s guidance isn’t always as clear as we’d like it to be, but if we pray and we are seeking him, we can trust him to guide us in the right path somehow. I think as we get to know him more, we can learn to recognise his voice better, but I agree, it is easy to be mistaken.
Barbie
I’m learning that God speaks in so many different ways — through His Word of which he gives me understanding, by the Holy Spirit, through other people, through nature and music. Sometimes for me it’s a feeling I have that “this is the way, walk ye in it” about a certain thing. I’m glad I stopped by. Love your blog title. I’m camped at #7 this week.
Christine Carter
I’ve often wondered those same questions Stephanie! And yet, there are times God’s guidance seems so loud and clear on what I am to do… usually coming from patterns, signs, and affirmations on so many different levels that I feel total assurance this is His will. The best example of this for my life is my book and how it all came to be. It’s my favorite God story of all, really. <3