How do I decide if the “Go” I’m hearing has really come from God?
By Dean Collins
How many times have you moved? How often have you moved to a different city or state? From the year before college until the year I graduated, I moved quite a lot due to my parent’s separation and divorce, starting college, stopping college, working, and starting college again in another state. But since I graduated, I have moved only three times that were not upgrades in the same city.
Abraham, on the other hand, moved quite a lot. Scripture records 17 moves that happened after God called him at age 75. God said he would show Abram a great land and make him a great nation, and both were true. I am not sure Abraham pictured it would require so many moves along the way. And I am not sure God directed every one of his moves.
In the Abram/Abraham story, we see that Abram believed God and acted on his beliefs. He packed up and went to Canaan (Genesis 12:4-7), and there God confirmed his plan. However, when we get to verse 10, we find that Abram left Canaan and moved to Egypt because a famine had struck the land. But there isn’t any indication this move was directed by God.
Acting alone?
When you are the patriarch, the head of the family, or the head of the business, your responsibilities include taking care of people. If you sense danger for your family or business, you set plans in motion to protect those for whom you have responsibility. We don’t see clearly from scripture whether God prompted this move to Egypt or if Abram just took things into his own hands and tried to bless his family without God’s involvement.
I will take a slight detour here to share a Bible interpretation method I use and you might consider: Read scripture from different translations for better insight. Over the years of reading through the Bible, I have used several translations. Some are better than others, but the variety helps me catch little details or gain fresh perspectives. As you do this, some things might pop out and appear differently than you noticed previously. This happened for me as I read this text from the New Living Translation (the version I’m using for daily readings this year) rather than the English Standard Version, which I have come to prefer.
The NLT verse 10 says the famine in Canaan forced Abram to go to Egypt. Most other translations simply say he went to Egypt. Maybe it’s not a big thing, but the difference makes me wonder about the “thin line” that exists between clearly knowing something is from God because of a prompt of some sort or because we walk in the Spirit and make decisions without even one moment of prayer.
Clear call?
My big location and job moves over the years came from a clear sense that God was calling me to move. In each case, I prayed and sought confirmation from wise spiritual mentors and friends. But as a person of action, I will confess I have also sometimes just jumped into little and even big decisions without much or any prayer. Sometimes there didn’t seem to be any problem as a result, and other times I found myself hitting a brick wall as a result of my unspiritual approach to decision-making.
In the Abram story we see that this move led to a pretty big problem, because Abram deceived Pharaoh, telling him that Sarai was his sister! This decision seems consistent with doing something without first checking with God.
Involve God?
I do not think we always know in every detail of every day that God is or isn't specifically directing us. Does God care whether I brush my teeth before or after I wash my face? My wife might care, but my decision won’t impact how I lead that day as long as I remember to do both!
What I hope to learn and encourage you to consider is how to involve God more and more in all decisions and at the same time have confidence in his blessing of wisdom, guidance, and provision. He is, in fact, the provider of all things. Without his love and care our lives would look very different, with eternal consequences for us and others.
Lord, forgive us when we jump into action without even a “Good morning” to you. Forgive us when we venture out without first thanking you for waking us up and filling our lungs with air. Help us to trust you as our source of wisdom, guidance, and provision. We want to walk in your Spirit and not in the flesh. Fill us today with your spirit so that we might live in grace and truth and lead others to the fountain of life that comes only from you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your time with God’s Word
Genesis 12:10-13, 19-20 NLT
Photo by RODNAE Productions at Pexels.com
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