Post by krazeeboi on Sept 9, 2010 16:07:53 GMT -5
Did the Spirit Really Say...?
God's will is harder and easier to discern than we imagine.
Mark Galli | posted 9/02/2010 10:12AM
God's will is harder and easier to discern than we imagine.
Mark Galli | posted 9/02/2010 10:12AM
So we've had to learn how to negotiate such moments [where we felt as though the Holy Spirit was prompting us to do something]—knowing that not every thought that pops into our head is from the Spirit, and knowing full well that some of them are! We've all looked back in gratitude for such moments.
I've told this story before, but it is too good to not repeat here. In preparing a list of people to invite to a Thanksgiving meal one year, the name of a couple my wife had just met popped into her head. She took it as a nudging of the Spirit. During the Thanksgiving meal, this husband got into a deep conversation with another guest, and the result was that his life vocation turned on a dime. As soon as was feasible, he quit his job, applied for graduate school, and got a job in his new field. He's there to this day, 30 years later. It's difficult not to believe that this Thanksgiving conversation was providential.
Then again, we've all looked back with regret at some decision, realizing it was not a response to the Spirit but to pressures of others or the ego. And we've also known regret at having failed to respond to a "prompting" that we are now sure was from the Spirit...
