INNER PROMPTINGS

A sister was just asking me what I think about this article 'Guidance and Intuition' from Nehemiah Ministries. This article talks about how believers make their decisions based on intuition or promptings of the Holy Spirit. The writer was saying that God does at times guide some Christians through an inner impression. To me, it could be an inner voice or an audible voice or a verse that jumped up from the scriptures. But he cautioned against proceeding purely based on inward guidance, quoting Proverbs 15:22 'Plans fail for lack of counsel, but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.'

In my own walk with God, sometimes I encountered hits and misses with this inward guidance. I have come to realise that maybe sometimes I heard God wrongly or I could have misinterpreted His message when things didn't turn out the way I thought I heard it would. Sometimes this leads to confusion and disappointment. I would then have to go back to God to ask Him where I missed it. And God will always answer me and clarify my doubts. As time passed, I came to this conclusion. I realised that my sensing or intuition was only one part of the equation. The second part is God's recurrent messages to me. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to prove that God is speaking to you on this area if a certain verse or message keeps coming up in the devotionals or things you see or hear.

The third part is the events happening after that which may include confirmation by other godly believers. I feel that the most important part of the equation to discern if your intuition is correct is the events that happened after His message. Whether these events were in line with His messages. These are the signs of the fig tree. If they occurred rather after His word was given, only then it could be safe to conclude that God is really confirming His word with signs and wonders. The best proof of our intuition is whether the events happening are pointing in that direction. Only by carefully studying these three parts of the equation can one safely proceed with that inner guidance. 

But I agree with the writer that if we are intent on doing God's will, we can trust that He is guiding our whole thought process, including our experiences of intuition. My take is that unless it is an urgent decision, one should pray about the inner promptings and also spend time thinking through your decision. Give it some time and God will surely illuminate your path. If it still doesn't, maybe it doesn't really matter to God which path you choose. It will still lead you to the destination God wants you to eventually. In any case, we don't have to be so stressed up about whether our decision is right or in line with His will. God will course correct us even if we make mistakes and will turn all things out for our good.