Samson's Jawbone

Recently I had a friend call me for counsel about a problem at their work. A few days later they called me to tell me that God had told them how to handle the matter, which was different from my biblically based counsel. I said to them, "Oh really, tell me about that." The person then described a restless night full of dreams, through which they said that God had redirected them. This is an experience all too common in pastoral counseling. People believe that God directs them through an encounter  rather than through conforming their lives to God's Word. How do we hear the voice of God? Does God speak to us today? The scripture is clear that God directs and often redirects our experience:           [3] He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness. for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3ESV) [9] The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9ESV) [7] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, a...

             Recently my local television station featured a woman who risked her life to run into a raging fire and save a one-year old child. When asked if she considered herself a hero she said that she was a person of faith and that she had been walking down the street when God told her to run into the fire and save the child. She said, that people who did what God told them to did were not heroes. God got the credit. Many Christians today live this way. They interpret some impression or emotional impulse as an epiphany, and act on those impression as if they were the Word of God itself. Some would even say that the failure to act on such impulses was the equivalent of disobeying a specific biblical command. Some people would look at this woman's testimony as divine personal guidance and would consider anyone who questioned the basis for this woman's action as disobedient or hypocritical. They insist God speaks to people t...