There have been times in my life when I felt God was directly speaking to my heart, and obedience tended to validate that.
So, first of all, I think it's WAY TOO OFTEN that people say "God put this or that on my heart....." or "God told me...."
But I DO believe there are "promptings from the Spirit" in our lives, when we are in tune with His Will.
One of my clearest examples, (and I may provide more) was when I was a bi-vocational pastor, operating my computer business as my main income.
I was at a client location installing a new Novell Netware Server (yeah, long ago) and was making good progress. I planned on completing the server that night, commissioning it, and start adding clients in the morning.
About 3 pm, I got a phone call from one of my church members. Meredith was Hubert's daughter. Hubert had been a deacon, and was at war with me for the first 2 years of my service at the church. I often refer to it as 1 year of nuclear war, then 2 years of cold war, before the Spirit of the Lord seemed to come in and really bless that church.
Hubert was a cantankerous old deacon, but a good rancher, and he's the guy who first taught me how to "poke cows". Though our relationship started off rather stormy, there came a point where he came into my church office one day and told me he would no longer be a thorn in my side. I knew something was wrong. He proceeded to explain that his doctor told him he had cancer, and had less than 6 months to live. He planned on going and "seeing the country", and he wouldn't be around anymore to do battle with me.
I prayed for him, and he really seemed to soften. (He had spent nearly 3 years trying to get me fired)
Back to the phone call, just about 3 months after Hubert's words to me. Meredith just asked, "Hey, Dad has been in bed for a few days now, and I don't think he's going to be around more than a couple weeks or so, so when you have time, would you mind stopping by"? I told her I would be happy to stop by, and it would probably be the first of the week (only 4 days away).
I went back to configuring the server, but something kept gnawing at me, and I really felt like the Lord was saying, "no - NOW".
I told my client that I had something come up, and I'd be back in the morning. Then I drove to Hubert's house.
Meredith greeted me, and pointed to the hallway, and said "he's back there...."
I walked down the hall, and there was this "tiny man" - he had been such a big rancher guy, but had wasted away to nearly skeletal, in this big KING SIZED bed, he looked so frail.
I sat beside him on the bed, and he looked over at me and held out his hand. I held his hand, and I said something like "I just came by to say hello". He smiled somewhat, and said, "no, you just came by to say goodbye". I thought he was kidding, weak as he was, but he said, "I have something I need to tell you".
I said, "Sure, Hubert, whatever you want to say...." And he looked up at me with those steely blue eyes and said, "I just want you to know that I think you're a fine fella".
He coughed a couple times, wheezed once, closed his eyes, and he was gone.
Just like that. Still holding my hand, his head still turned in my direction.
To this day, I keep thinking - I am SO GLAD that I didn't continue working on that server, and followed - what I believe to be - the prompting of the Spirit.
So, first of all, I think it's WAY TOO OFTEN that people say "God put this or that on my heart....." or "God told me...."
But I DO believe there are "promptings from the Spirit" in our lives, when we are in tune with His Will.
One of my clearest examples, (and I may provide more) was when I was a bi-vocational pastor, operating my computer business as my main income.
I was at a client location installing a new Novell Netware Server (yeah, long ago) and was making good progress. I planned on completing the server that night, commissioning it, and start adding clients in the morning.
About 3 pm, I got a phone call from one of my church members. Meredith was Hubert's daughter. Hubert had been a deacon, and was at war with me for the first 2 years of my service at the church. I often refer to it as 1 year of nuclear war, then 2 years of cold war, before the Spirit of the Lord seemed to come in and really bless that church.
Hubert was a cantankerous old deacon, but a good rancher, and he's the guy who first taught me how to "poke cows". Though our relationship started off rather stormy, there came a point where he came into my church office one day and told me he would no longer be a thorn in my side. I knew something was wrong. He proceeded to explain that his doctor told him he had cancer, and had less than 6 months to live. He planned on going and "seeing the country", and he wouldn't be around anymore to do battle with me.
I prayed for him, and he really seemed to soften. (He had spent nearly 3 years trying to get me fired)
Back to the phone call, just about 3 months after Hubert's words to me. Meredith just asked, "Hey, Dad has been in bed for a few days now, and I don't think he's going to be around more than a couple weeks or so, so when you have time, would you mind stopping by"? I told her I would be happy to stop by, and it would probably be the first of the week (only 4 days away).
I went back to configuring the server, but something kept gnawing at me, and I really felt like the Lord was saying, "no - NOW".
I told my client that I had something come up, and I'd be back in the morning. Then I drove to Hubert's house.
Meredith greeted me, and pointed to the hallway, and said "he's back there...."
I walked down the hall, and there was this "tiny man" - he had been such a big rancher guy, but had wasted away to nearly skeletal, in this big KING SIZED bed, he looked so frail.
I sat beside him on the bed, and he looked over at me and held out his hand. I held his hand, and I said something like "I just came by to say hello". He smiled somewhat, and said, "no, you just came by to say goodbye". I thought he was kidding, weak as he was, but he said, "I have something I need to tell you".
I said, "Sure, Hubert, whatever you want to say...." And he looked up at me with those steely blue eyes and said, "I just want you to know that I think you're a fine fella".
He coughed a couple times, wheezed once, closed his eyes, and he was gone.
Just like that. Still holding my hand, his head still turned in my direction.
To this day, I keep thinking - I am SO GLAD that I didn't continue working on that server, and followed - what I believe to be - the prompting of the Spirit.
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